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.SIX YEARS' Ri: SI I) i:\CE 



IN 



A AI ERICA. 



RECOLLECTIONS 



SIX YEARS HESIDENCE 



UNITED 8TA i ES OF AMERICA. 



INTERSPERSED WITH OUIGINAL ANECDOTES, 
II.LUSTKATINO THE MANNERS OF THE INHAHIIANTS 



TUP. (ilU-AT Wr.sTI.HN KKIM HLK 



Hv pi:ri:i{ nkilsox. 




GLASGOW: 

DAVID UOBERTSiON, 188, T RON GATE; AND 
WILLIAM TAIT, EDINBURGH. 



MDCCCXXX. 



r,o 






HlTCinSON AND BROOKMAN', PRINTERS, 
MLLAI'IELD. 



PREFACE. 



So much has of late years been written regarding 
the United States of America, that it ahnost looks 
like presumption to offer any thing new on the 
subject. In a country, however, of such extent, 
and amongst a people of such enterprise, there are 
circumstances worthy of rciuaik daily occurring ; 
and in submitting the following observations to 
the candour of my countrymen, I would, with all 
due deference, remark, that nothing can be more 
distant from my sentiments than to exalt America 
at the expense of Britain, or to depreciate the 
former at the expense of truth. Having spent 
nearly six years in different parts of the Union, 
I have no hesitation in saying, that, for the poor 
man of industry or perseverance, America holds 
out many inducements ; to the man of capital, the 
temptation is not so great, considering the disad- 
vantages inevitably attending emigration to a new 
country, and change of climate. I have seen pub- 
lications, exhibiting in strong terms, " the misera- 



VI PREFACE. 

ble and degraded state of the people of America." 
Possibly some of these works were penned by 
men who had never stirred out of Britain, and 
who, in writing, had no other purpose to serve than 
to eulogise countries, not to be compared in any 
respect, either moral or physical, to America. 

For my own part, I have neither motive nor in- 
terest in writing for, or against America; but pos- 
sibly some of the following remarks may be of use 
to, or at least tend, in some degree, to amuse such 
of my countrymen as may deem them worthy of 
perusal. Being brought up in the counting-house, 
I can make no pretensions to what is technically 
called Jine writing ; but this I will be bold enough 
to assert, that I have advanced nothing inconsis- 
tent with truth, or at variance with what I have 
actually seen and heard. The greater part of the 
succeeding remarks were put together during the 
course of 1828, and were intended chiefly for tlie 
information of a few friends who felt interested on 
the subject, and were desirous of obtaining a sum- 
mary sketch of what may be called real life in 
America. A work has been lately issued from 
the press by a celebrated naval character, which I 
have perused, I need scarcely add, with much 
pleasure. I would merely observe, however, that 
the gendeman himself is perfectly aware, that 



PREFACE. Vll 

owing to the nature of his numerous introductions, 
.; his intercourse was chiefly with what may be cal- 
led the American nobility, who were, moreover, 
completely on their guard, being apprised of his 
intention of " taking notes." My intercourse with 
the Americans was wholly in the way of business 
as a merchant, or rather as a fixed inhabitant of 
the country; consequently there was little occasion 
to conceal or disguise their feelings or sentiments 
from me. 

In the different anecdotes I have given, were it 
of any joossible use, I could have given the names 
of the parties at full length, but 1 have no wish 
to harrow the feelings of any individual. It may 
be deemed that in some instances I have endea- 
voured to exhibit the American character in a fri- 
volous or ridiculous point of view, by dwelling too 
much upon their frailties or vanities — nothing is 
more at variance w ith my sentiments than this ; 
my most fervent wishes would be much gratified 
in contemplating the Americans divested of that 
preposterous vanity which obtrudes itself into 
many of their most ordinary transactions. 

I respect their character upon the whole, and 
cannot but say, that, next to my native country, 1 
know of no place on earth where a person may 
live in more security and comfort, provided their 



VllJ PREFACE. 

health is good, and they are of themselves posses- 
sed of an ordinary share of forbearance on certain 
topics. I have enjoyed many pleasant days in 
America, and have many friends there whom I 
cannot soon forget ; nor can I ever cease to have 
a deep interest in the welfare of the inhabitants of 
the land that gave birth to two of my children, and 
in which are deposited the ashes of several of my 
dearest relatives. 

I may add here, that an old acquaintance of 
mine, recently arrived from Philadelphia," called 
upon me a few days ago, and I was informed by 
him, that the prices of weaving, and the other 
branches of labour connected with the manufac- 
ture of cotton goods in that city, continued as high 
as during the periods referred to in the following 
pages, and the number of hands employed in the 
cotton manufacture in Philadelphia and its vici- 
nity, was considerably above what I had antici- 
pated. 

";■•-«■■ '"■ ' 

Glasgow, June, 1830 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A RESIDENCE 



UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER I. 

TOYAGE TO NEW YORK — YELLOW FEVER — TEMPORAItV CITY — HOS- 
PITAL DUES — APrEARAXCE OF STREETS — DRAYMEN — PEARL 
STREET — CITY-HALL — CHURCHES AND MONUMENTS — ORPHAN 
ASYLUM — HOTELS AND BOARDING-HOUSES. 

The ordinary details of a voyage across the At- 
lantic have been so often descanted upon, that it 
may seem superfluous to say a word more on the 
subject. People in good circumstances, who are 
disposed to sacrifice a little money for the comforts 
of a cabin passage, will find it, in the long run, the 
most advisable plan, to take their passage in one 
of the regular packets from Liverpool. The hand- 
some accommodation, and profusion of luxuries to 
be had on board these vessels, will more than 
compensate for any additional charge, to say no- 
thing of the agreeable company usually met with ; 



2 SIX YEARS KESIDKNCE 

and it is rare to meet with any thing like inattention 
or incivility IVoni tlie master of a New York pack- 
et, their character being at stake in this respect. 
Ships not expressly fitted up for passengers, are 
often in want of sundry little niceties extremely 
agreeable to the palate of a person labouring un- 
der that most cruel of all possible maladies — sea- 
sickness. Many remedies have been proposed for 
this disease, but, in general, without farther* eflect 
than a temporary putting off of the evil day : this 
may do well enough in a voyage across the Irish 
channel ; but a person who sets his face to an At- 
lantic excursion, will tlowell to offer no resistance 
to the efforts of nature, but endeavour to keep 
moving about in the fresh air. People in this 
condition are generally unable to take their vic- 
tuals as usual ; but if instead of attempting to cram 
themselves with a profusion of rich and high-sea- 
soned viands, (which, in this case, rather disgust 
than provoke appetite,) they would, for a few days, 
restrict themselves to the simplest fare, such as 
oatmeal porridge and molasses, and a little soup 
and bread, they would find this arrangement set 
them on their feet in a twinkling. I have seen 
stout ploughmen, who, by incessant fasting and 
sickness for ten or twelve days, were brought al- 
most to the gates of death, instantaneously recov- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 3 

ered by a good dose of oatmeal porridge. People 
vvlio find it eligible to take a steerage passage, and 
generally have to find their own provisions, would 
do well to lay in a good supply of oatmeal, and a 
quantity of cakes made from the same material, twice 
fired : — a supply of tea, colTec and beer, or porter, 
will also be very advisable, as the water on board, 
for a few days at first, more especially, is often un- 
palateable. 

My last voyage to America was in 1822 — 
when, wiih niv wife and infant child, I embarked 
on board the ship Camillus, Captain P — k, Irom 
Greenock, bound for New York : — a vouni^ ladv 
and .1 boy were the only other cabin passengers; 
so that although our society was very limited, we 
were relieved from the confusion and bustle ine- 
vitably occasioned on ship-boanl, by a number of 
strau'i-ers conjrrejjatinu within the precincts of a 
ship's cabin. The captain was a very smart, civil 
Yankee, and one who coukl give or take a joke in 
regard to national matters, with a much better 
grace than the majority of his countrymen. — He 
was beyond every thing attentive and humane to 
his steerage passengers, of whom there were about 
fifty. 

In general, I have found a smart gale or two 
in crossing the Atlantic ; but during this vovage. 



A 



4 SIX years' residknce 

the weather was so moderate, that a common 
wherry might have safely made the attempt. About 
half-way across, there was an addition made to 
our ship's crew ; one of the emigrants' wives iiav- 
ing given birth to a daughter, which was after- 
wards, according to custom, christened " Camil- 
lus." The fortieth day brought us outside Sandy 
Hook, when we received a pilot, who informed 
us, to our great discomfiture, that the yellow 
fever raged in the city. Having crossed the bar 
at the mouth of the Hudson, the country on 
each side presented a very beautiful and interest- 
ing appearance. The ship was brouglit to anclior 
at quarantine ground, about eight n)iles below New 
York, and boarded by the heahh oflicer, who re- 
viewed the passengers mustered on deck in their 
best apparel, and was much satisfied with their 
healthy and cleanly appearance, giving them a 
very friendly admonition to avoid going into the 
city, or exposing themselves unnecessarily to the 
weather. From this spot, the hospital and the ad- 
jacent buildings on Staten Island upon the left, are 
seen to much advantage, being delightfully situated 
close to the shore, near the foot of a very conside- 
rable rising ground. — The city is also in full view. 
We remained at anchor all night, and next morn- 
ing proceeded up the river, passing the city on 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 5 

our right, which truly presented a picture of de- 
solation, the numerous wharfs being entirely bare 
of vessels, not a soul to be seen stirring about, the 
streets covered with lime and charcoal, and guard- 
ed at each end by a high fence, and the doors and 
windows of every habitation and store closely 
shut. We cast anchor opposite to a part of the 
town deemed sufliciently healthy, nearly three miles 
above the point which forms the southern l)oand- 
ary of the city. On going ashore, the bustle that 
prevailed was beyond description, nearly the whole 
of tiie business-part of the city being removed out 
to the fields which skirt the suburbs. An im- 
mense variety of temporary wooden buildings, such 
as may be seen at Glasgow during the fair, were 
speedily erected for the accommodation of the ci- 
tizens; and the business transactetl here during 
two months was prodigious ; some of these build- 
ings were fitted up as hotels, where 200 or 300 
people were l)oarded, but the accommodation for 
beds, 8cc. at such a time, may easily be conceived 
to have been none of the best. For such accom- 
modation, however, people were very happy to pay 
an extravagant price ; and in many instances, in 
the first hurry of the business, until a sufticiency of 
booths were erected, respectable persons were 
obliged for nights to bivouac in the fields. This 
A 3 



6 SIX years' residence 

may give an idea of what formidable terrors the 
first appearance of the yellow fever creates. With 
much difficulty we obtained a room and small clo- 
set at 9 dollars per week, (40s. 6d.) and this was 
much preferable to the confusion of a large board- 
ing house, where I could not obtain accommoda- 
tion for less than 25 dollars {£5 12s. 6d.)* per 
week, for my very small family and servant. 

• In the course of tlie follo\ving remarks, 1 have invariably 
calculated the dollar at 4s. 6d. as that is the standard rate of 
exchange ; and although at times (indeed generally since the 
peace of 1815) the rate of exchange is against America, that 
is to say, that suppose while you are in America, you wish to 
remit funds to Britain, you must j)ay sometimes as high as 13 
per cent, premium for a bill upon the latter country : for in- 
stance, a bill on London for i,'100, at the above rate, will cost 
you 50:2 dollars, and 2::? cents, in place of 444 dollars, and 44 
cents, which is the par of exchange. The fluctuating nature 
of exchange, however, between the two countries, does not 
really affect the relative value of the dollar in regard to Ame- 
rica, as a dollar is always reckoned a dollar or 100 cents in 
that country, and will go as far in purchasing the necessaries 
or conveniences of life, whether it is nominally called 4s. or 
6s. or 8s. I have observed in a late publication on the United 
States, that the dollar is generally calculated at 4s. 3d. This 
is taking the rate of exchange into view, which should not be 
the case. — Suppose that an emigrant should be able to pur- 
chase 1000 dollars in Glasgow, at 4s. each, he will, upon his 
arrival in America, find that these dollars are just as valuable 
in procuring him any kind of property as any other dollars 
that ever were current in that country ; but should he wish to 
remit the said 1000 dollars to Britain whilst bills are at 12^ 
per cent, premium, he will just exactly be enabled to purchase 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 7 

In this irregular and temporary city in the field, 
you might find in one groupe, banking-houses, in- 
surance offices, coffee-houses, auctioneers' sale- 
rooms, dry goods, hardware, and grocery stores, 
milliners' shops, barbers' shops, and last, though 
not least, a suitable proportion of grog and soda- 
water shops. In the bustle and confusion which 
prevailed from dawn to sunset, you might easily 
trace, in the anxious visages of the thousands who 
acted on this busy stage, one overwhelming, unva- 
rying passion — the desire of gain. This state of 
matters continued till nearly the end of October, 
when a slight bUick frost appeared, which instant- 
ly dissipated all fears on account of yellow fever, 
and the consequent numerous removals back to 
the city, resembled the breaking up of the camp 
of some great army. 



a bill for ;£;200, which is the net amount originally laid out in 
Glasgow. In drawing a bill upon Britain, say for £200, the 
drawer first calculates how many dollars at 4s. Gd. each, £200 
amounts to, which is 888 dollars, and 88 cents, add to this 
12| per cent, or l-8th, and the gross amount is 1000 dollars. 
Suppose, again, that exchange on Britain is at 5 per cent, pre- 
mium, (which is sometimes the case) then 1000 dollars will 
purchase a bill for £214 os. 9d. 

At the end of the volume, I have subjoined several money 
tables, which mav be found useful to persons interested in the 
American trade, or who intend to visit the land of dollars and 
cents. 



$ SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

Cabin passengers arriving in the United States, 
must make an entry for their luggage at the cns- 
tom-house : this is done at an expense of only 20 
cents (lid.) The utmost civility is shown in ge- 
neral by the custom-house ofiicers, from the col- 
lector down to the land-waiter, and hardly any 
trouble is given in overhauling one's luggage. An 
oath is taken by the person making entry, that he 
has no articles intended for sale. The captain of 
the ship makes one entry for the whole of the 
steerage passengers' luggage. It may be observed, 
that every individual arriving at New York, is 
charged with U dollar (5s. 8d.)as hospital money, 
which must be paid for old and young. The 
owners of the vessel have to come untler a bond to 
the United States, to the amount of several thou- 
sand dollars, by which they are bound in damages, 
should any person whom they import become 
charfTeable to the state as a pauper. A law to this 
effect in Glasgow would, doubtless, tend in a great 
measure to relieve the distress of our native ope- 
ratives, by preventing such inundations of poor 
workmen and paupers from our sister island. 

The city of New York is situated in latitude 
40" 42', north, longitude 71-'' west from London, on 
an island formed by the confluence of the Hudson, 
or North River, and a small arm of the sea, which 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 9 

connects the Atlantic with Long Island Sound, — 
the name of this island is Manhattan, and it lies 
about 20 miles north from the opening where the 
Hudson empties itself into the ocean. On the 
south side of this opening is placed the lighthouse 
of Sandy Hook, from whence sailing up the chan- 
nel towards the city, the view is very striking. A 
great number of strong forts are built on each side, 
completely commanding the channel ; and to esti- 
mate their strength from the number of guns, and 
weight of metal, it would be no easy matter for a 
fleet, even of 20 or 30 sail of the line, to make 
their way to the city. The circular fort on Go- 
vernor's Island, mounts 52 heavy guns on tlie two 
lower tier of ports, and 20 on the upper tier, 
called 50 }K)und colunibiads. 

The city being built upon level ground, has not 
that imposing appearance in approaching it, which 
it would certainly command, if placed upon a de- 
clivity. rrt)ni the number of lolly steeples with 
which it is adorned, it has a bold appearance ; 
and the great cjuantity of shipping generally in 
port, presents to the eye of a stranger no mean 
idea of this great depot of commercial enterprise. 
On landing at any of the princiiKal wharfs, a fo- 
reigner will require to keep a good look-out, else 
he will run no small risk of being rode over by 



10 SIX years' residence 

some of the New York draymen, who drive on, 
full, or not full, like so many opposition coaches. 
Accidents from this spirit o^ Jehu ism have repeat- 
edly occurred in the city, both from coaches and 
drays, without in the least damping the ardour of 
the drivers. 

A person arriving at the east-side of the city, 
will form a very mean idea of its splendour; 
but by the time he arrives at the principal street, 
Broadway, he will form a more exalted opi- 
nion of this " London of America," as it is 
sometimes denominated. This street runs nearly 
north and south for about 2J miles, averages 80 feet 
in width, and is pretty nearly so fiir built up. The 
houses in this, as well as in most of the principal 
streets, are of brick, generally from three to four 
stories in height; but the brick houses in Ameri- 
ca present a much livelier and cleaner appearance 
than might be expected, as they are almost inva- 
riably painted the colour of brick, and the seams 
or interstices pure white. In most of the genteel 
dwelling-houses, the door steps and lintels, and 
window sills, are made of fine free-stone, or white 
marble ; the plates and odier ornaments on the 
principal doors of some few houses in the lower 
part of the town, are made of pure silver. This 
is very unlike republican simplicity. A few of the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 11 

side pavements are of broad flag stones ; the rest 
are of brick, and the middle of the streets of good 
whinstone, with which the island abounds. The 
lower part of the city is very irregularly built. 
Pearl Street, for example, which is the principal 
business street, runs from near the foot of Broad- 
way, in an eastern direction, and after describing 
a semicircle, enters the same street after a course 
of about 1^ mile. This street, it is said, was the 
tract of the cattle, belonging to the first settlers, to 
their grazing grounds, and as the colony gradually 
increased, the people erected their huts on each 
side of the cow-path, hence its irregularity. The 
greater part of this street is occupied by stores ; 
and the New York merchants seem to have a great 
notion of exhibiting their merchandise on the pave- 
ment. There is absolutely no getting along in 
good weather, the whole pavement being piled up 
with bales and boxes, or in the intervals you meet 
with nothing but open trap doors ready to swallow 
the careless or unwary traveller. Even when these 
doors are shut, and the rest of the pavement clear, 
walking is dangerous at night, as they are invaria- 
bly raised a few inches above the rest of the path : 
to a stranger they are perfectly annoying. 

From the manner in which the cities of America 
are built, they cover a much larger space of ground 



]2 

than cities of an equal population in Britain : al- 
most every house is occupied by one family only, 
and there is a back-yard, less or more, attached 
to each dwelling. The streets of New York are 
by no means famed for cleanliness ; but there is a 
certain species of abomination which adorns too 
many streets and closes in Scotland, with which 
you are never disgusted in any town in America. 
It is a difficult matter, however, to find a closs 
in New York, and I never saw but one turn- 
pike stair. On remarking to a friend in Scotland, 
that the Americans were a remarkably cleanly peo- 
ple, he observed, " No thanks to them; the climate 
obliges them to live cleanly." 

The most conspicuous public building in New 
York is the city hall, which is certainly a superb 
edifice ; the front and sides being built of white 
marble, the rest of grey free-stone. The length of 
this building is 216 feet; the wings are 105 feet 
deep; it contains the public courts of justice, the 
mayor's court, police-office, &c. The expense of 
erecting it cost 500,000 dollars (.^112,500 ster- 
ling.) 

The New Exchange recently erected in Wall 
Street, is a spacious and splendid building : — 
several pillars in front are each of one entire 
stone, about 27 feet in height, and weighing above 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 13 

25 tons. — This building is, however, by no means 
situated so as to be seen to advantage. 

There are a number of handsome and spa- 
cious churches in New York; a description of 
them all would be unnecessary in this place. One 
of the most elegant is St Paul's, built in 1765, 
under the old Government. It stands in a cen- 
trical situation, and has a very imposing look : 
the front is adorned with fine pillars, and there is 
an elegant spire 2Sl feet high ; the church is 113 
feet by 72; the inside is richly adorned with sui- 
table ornaments, and fine crystal chandeliers ; it 
is calculated to accommodate 4000 people. In 
the front of the church there is an elegant mar- 
ble monument to the memory of General 
Montgomery, who fell at Quebec in 1775. In the 
church-yard I observed a very handsome pyrami- 
dal monument of white marble, about 12 or 15 
feet in height ; it was erected by Mr Kean the 
actor, to the memory of his unfortunate proto-type 
—Cooke. While gazing upon it, I could not 
help thinking upon our noble Burns' tribute to 
poor Ferguson m the Canongate.— There are few 
natives of Britain, I should think, who have seen 
this monument of Kean's good-heartedness, with- 
out feeling a sentiment of indulgence towards that 
wonderful actor. 

B 



14 



SIX years' residence 



There are several other churches of like dimen- 
sions with St Paul's, and equally elegant. The 
building of churches has at least kept pace with 
the increase of population. In 182G, the 103d 
place of worship was erected within the city, so 
that there is no want of visible religion in this 
quarter. 

In ICOf), the population of New York being 6000, thtrf were 3 eliunlies. 



1790, the 
1800, the 
1S05, the 
1810, the 
1816, the 
1820, the 
1823, the 
1826, the 



,,.,^„,^ supposed 



33,131, 

00,439, 

75,770, 

96,373, 

100.619, 

123,706, 

135,000, 

150,000, 



21 

,^ 31 

39 

53 

57 

— C9 

67 

103 



Of these churches in 1823, there were — 



Tiesbyterian of all kinds, 20 
Kpiscopalian, . . .15 
Methodist, ... 13 
Reformed Dutch, . .12 
Baptist, .... 10 
Friends, .... 4 
Lutheran, ... 2 

Roman Catholic, . . 2 
Universalists, . . .2 

Carry forward, 60 



Brought forward, 
Unitarians, 
Moravians, . 
New Jerusalem, 
Alms House, 
State Prison, '. 
Mariners, 
Jews, . . . . 



80 



87 



Five of these churches are occupied by coloured 
people; the majority of whom are INIethodists. 
One of their congregations is styled " African 
Presbyterian." There are several intelligent and 



IX THE UNITED STATES. 15 

pious preachers amongst these sons of Ethiopia, 
and one or two of them are said to be quite elo- 
quent in their delivery. Over the principal en- 
trance of several churches in New York, a suitable 
motto, or text of Scripture, is inscribed upon the 
wall. Upon one of the Methodist churches for 
blacks, the text chosen is certainly quite appro- 
priate, viz. : Isaiah ix. 2. " The people that walked 
in darkness have seen a great light ; they that dwell 
in the land of the shadow of death, upon them 
hath the light shined." 

The only other inscription which now recurs to 
my remembrance, is upon the x\ntiburgher meeting- 
house in Nassau Street, viz. : " Earnestly contend 
for the faith once delivered to the saints." 

The stipend of the minister of St Paul's, who is 
a bishop, is about 5000 dollars per annum. There 
beinfj no established religion in America, if a mi- 
nister expects to be paid well, he must preach ac- 
cordingly. Ill fact, the clergy here are too much 
at the mercy of their congregations, who are often 
exceedingly capricious, and not over fond of hear- 
ing too many home truths. — The stipend of the 
Presbyterian clergy is from 1200 to 2000 dollars. 

To enumerate all the public buildings in New 
York would be endless. 1 may notice the Asylum 
for Orphans, which was projected, and received 
B 2 



16 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

considerable assistance from a Scotish lady, the 
late Mrs Graham, well known in tiie religious 
world. This is a plain building, in a healthy si- 
tuation ; the space around being fancifully laid out 
in shrubs and flowers. This institution has lonnr 
been under the charge of a Scotsman and his wife, 
who deserve great credit for the order and cleanli- 
ness observed in the internal economy of the 
house. These worthy people have shown a truly 
parental tenderness towards the unfortunate inno- 
cents committed to their charge, i)aying them every 
attention in time of sickness. Few establishments 
of the kind are so well regulated, and the iiniiates 
seemingly so happy. I have heard several of the 
children, not over three or four years of age, re- 
peat hymns with great correctness. I observed that 
the younger children generally addressed the su- 
perintendent and his wife, by the name of father 
and mother. 

There is no want of spacious and commodious 
hotels in New York, some of which are upon a 
very large scale. The City Hotel is an immense 
establishment; and besides large ball-rooms and 
public-rooms, contains about 80 apartments, some 
of which are elegant. A person who has been ac- 
customed to private lodgings, will find himself at 
first not quite at home in such a lodging, as there 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 17 

is very little retirement to be procured, unless an 
extra price is paid. Common boarders have not 
even the accommodation of a separate bed-ioom. 
The charjre for regular boarders in this and the 
other large hotels, is one dollar per day, which, 
considering the elegance of the entertainment, is 
very moderate. A stranger mav learn a good deal 
concerning the manners of the inluibitants, and ob- 
tain information rerrardinir the countrv in ixeneral, 
in such a place ; but it will be necessary for him to 
lay aside all bashfulness or reserve, and acquire 
the American habit of unlimited interroffation. 
\'ery genteel boarding can be had in private 
houses for about four dollars per week ; boarding- 
houses for mechanics and work people can be ob- 
tained for 2i to 3 dollars (10s. 2d. to 13s. 6d.) per 
week ; and even in these, the provisions are both 
good and plentiful : lor instance, at breakfast, they 
have colfee, bread and butter, with salt shad, or 
mackerel, or salt beef. The dinner is in propor- 
tion : and at supper, tea or coffee is always to be 
had. Spirits are always laid on the table at din- 
ner. Irish labourers, to whom beef was a rarity 
at home, seem to enjoy themselves fully as well as 
any class of men : they find themselves literally in 
the land of Canaan. 



B 3 



18 



CHAPTER II. 

THEATRES — APPEARANCE OF LADIES, &C.— SUNDAY AMUSEMENTS 
— PECULIARITIES OF FEATURES — DRESS — NOTIONS OF INDEPEN- 
DENCE — PAUPERS — MECHANICS — SERVANT GIRLS. 

The inhabitants of New York are very fond of 
theatrical amusements, there being no less than 
four theatres in the city, although the population 
is considerably less than that of Glasgow. Two 
of these Temples of Thespis are very large, and 
are, in general, well attended : the scenery and 
decorations are quite respectable. The managers 
contrive at all tunes to command tlie exertions of 
some of the first rate London actors. Mr Wal- 
lack was highly popular ; and there seemed to be 
a due share of admiration and applause bestowed 
upon Kean and Mathews, who performed when I 
was in New York to very crowded houses. 

The ladies usually make an elegant display, and 
apparently seem to feel quite at home in the thea- 
tres of New York : — indeed, the rage for dramati- 
cal representations is carried to rather an extra- 
vagant pitch by many of the fair sex. I have 
known instances, in no very exalted rank of life, 
wherein the lady considered herself as being ill- 
used by her husband, if not conveyed at least once 
a week to the play-house. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 19 

Although the appearance of the ladies, as I have 
already mentioned, is rather elegant, and their 
dress no less so, yet there is one custom prevalent, 
which a stranger cannot help taking notice of, and 
would never be tolerated in any polite theatre in 
Europe : the very " gods" in Glasgow would hiss 
it out of countenance. At the interval betwixt the 
play and the farce, the greater part of the ladies 
in the front seats of the lower boxes turn their 
backs to the gentry in the pit, and sit down on the 
edge of the box, in rather an ungraceful attitude ; 
and as many of these fair creatures inherit, in no 
small degree, the equatorial breadth of their Dutch 
ancestors, this inelegant custom more readily at- 
tracts the notice of a stranger. 

There is a custom to be remarked peculiar to 
the gentlemen, but it proceeds not from inadvert- 
ence, but from the cause of many of their rude- 
nesses — independence : according to their notions 
for which word, their behaviour, in many respects, 
may well warrant the substitution of the word im- 
pertinence. The custom I allude to is, — suppose 
that the front seat of a box is quite filled up by 
gentlemen, at least so in appearance, (and it is dif- 
ficult to determine, by mere exterior, who are, and 
who are not gentlemen in America, for all are gen- 
tlemen who go to the boxes,) and afterwards a 
worthy citizen, with his wife and daughters, are 



20 SIX years' residence 

ushered into the same box, these said cavaliers 
in the front will turn round and stare, and guess, 
and calculate in a most offensive manner ; but as 
for offering the ladies, be they old or young, a seat 
in the front, they would as soon think of taking off 
their hats ! Soon after my arrival in New York, 
I found myself exactly so situated, along with 
some ladies and gentlemen : we sat for some time 
in silent astonishment at the front-seat gentlemen, 
and after the play began, expected at least hats 
off — but no ; they did not take them off until re- 
peatedly remonstrated with, and the box-keeper 
appealed to. At first, I imagined this might be a 
solitary case, but on looking round, saw many res- 
pectable people in the same predicament. Mathews 
performed that night to a very crowded house. 

One of the theatres is for the black people of 
the city ; it is really worth one's while to go there 
for a few nights for the novelty of the thing, and 
to hear the king's English murdered. A black 
Douglas, with a kilt, makes a most preposterous 
appearance. Othello may pass, and another cha- 
racter or two, but it is too much for frail flesh and 
blood to see an absolute negro strut in with much 
dignity, bellowing forth — 

" Now is de vinter of our discontent 

♦' Made glorus summer by de son of New York," 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 21 

The love of amusement and diversion is not even 
altogether lost sight of on Sunday; although, in ge- 
neral, the churches are well attended, still a good 
miny of the middling and higher classes spend the 
day in excursions to the country. There are 
steam-boats continually plying across both the East 
and Hudson rivers, from sunrise till late in the 
evening : the former conveying you to New Jer- 
sey for 12 cents, (7d.) and the latter to Long 
Island for 4 cents (2d.) There are suitable 
houses of entertainment at these places ; and there 
are occasionally in summer, steam-boat excursions 
to greater distances. Before condemning the citi- 
zens of New York, however, on account of this 
breach of the Sabbath, it might be asked, were such 
conveyances to be had every Sunday at Glasgow, 
how would the matter stand ? Would the boats 
be obliged to desist plying for want of due encou- 
ragement from the natives of our far-famed church- 
going city ? Several public gardens in New York 
are filled every Sunday evening, where every ac- 
commodation in the way of refreshment is to be 
had. The chief one is at the Battery, where there 
is a delightful promenade at the edge of the bay. 
The walks are pleasantly shaded with fine trees, 
and the view from this place near sunset is truly 
beautiful. Knickerbocker mxes a fine sketch of 



22 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

this spot in his history of New York. I have 
heard many of the citizens insist that the view of 
the bay of Naples is inferior to that of New York. 
We must allow patriotism to have drawn the pic- 
ture in this instance. New York neither possesses 
the commanding scenery, nor the princely edifices 
of Naples, 

The inhabitants of almost every country have a 
peculiar cast of countenance ; a sort of tamily like- 
ness as it were. This can hardly be expected in 
New York, where the people are descended from 
such a heterogeneous mass of Dutch, French, 
Germans, English, Scotish, and Irish ; from which 
of these nations they have acquired one striking 
peculiarity in the most prominent feature of the 
face, I will not pretend to say. I have heard it re- 
marked by foreigners, that the New Yorkers in 
general, both male and female, do possess a length 
of nose, which cannot fail to attract tlie attention 
of the most superficial on-looker. So far as my 
own experience goes, I am wonderfully mistaken 
if the first twenty noses a stranger encounters in 
Broadway, do not measure with any twenty-five ave- 
rage noses in Glasgow or Edinburgh. In spite of 
this peculiarity, the inhabitants of New York may 
be termed rather jrood-lookino^. The ladies are usu- 
ally tall and genteel in their persons, their coun- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 23 

lenance inclining to the pale cast, with an almost 
imperceptible tinge of sallow : their ancles are in 
general not near so clumsy as many of our coun- 
trywomen's ; but their feet are any thing but 
Chinese. They are, one and all of them, exceed- 
ingly gaudy and fond of dress ; and cause their 
frail tenement to suffer no ordinary degree of pe- 
nance for gentility's sake. I have seen delicate- 
looking creatures perambulating the streets while 
the thermometer stood 20 degrees below freezino-, 
and was assured on good authority (and their ap- 
pearance by no means belied the assertion,) that 
they had not so much as one single flannel petti- 
coat to protect them from the inclemency of the 
weather. According to the opinion of many skil- 
ful physicians in New York, hundreds of lovely 
creatures have fallen victims to the idol vanity. 
Since thin clothing has been so prevalent, it can- 
not be denied that the bills of mortality annually 
exhibit a most melancholy increase under the head 
of consumption. Ladies who can procure the 
means are most extravagantly dressed; and the 
wife of a store-keeper of the second or third class, 
may occasionally be seen with a shawl worth 600 
dollars on h^r back. In America, you will seldom 
see a cap on the head of any female of whatever 
rank, whether married or unmarried, at least until 



24 

Time commences bis ravages upon their hair. I 
have even seen old beldams of threescore and ten 
sitting bareheaded in the theatre. The men are 
dressed much in the same style and fashion as in 
Britain. Fashionable articles of clothing are nearly 
double the price of the same in Britain. 

There are many customs in America, arising 
from that continually mistaken view of indepen- 
dence which exists among all ranks, quite annoy- 
ing to a stranger. For instance, their mode of 
entering each other's dwellings, which is, giving a 
few smart taps at the door, and coming in " slick" 
without ceremony. This would be the less galling, 
were a person sure of this privilege being adopted 
by none but their most intimate friends ; but even 
in a genteel house, sitting by your parlour fire, 
you may occasionally expect to hear a thundering 
at your door, and before you have time to turn 
round, your parlour is entered by some unhewn 
clodpoll, asking if you want any wood, or some 
such article of domestic consumpt ! I was thun- 
derstruck at the first visit or two of this sort, and 
was at a loss how to get rid of such intruders, till 
effectually stopped by a checklock on the outer 
door. This is certainly liberty with a vengeance. 
It must, however, be allowed, that even with much 
greater opportunities of committing robbery, de- 



TN THE UNITED STATES. 25 

predations in private houses are infinitely more 
rare than at home : indeed, in the country houses 
in America, there are many who do not even lock 
or bolt their door at night. That rogues are not 
scarce, the state prisons fully demonstrate; but 
robbing and thieving is not in such an organised 
state as in Britain ; neither are the people under 
equal temptations to steal, as no one need want if 
they can work. 

In the large towns of America, your feelings 
are not harassed every moment in the streets, by 
the sight of such poverty, squalidness, and ragged- 
ness as are to be met with in the large manufac- 
turing towns of Britain. It is with the deepest 
feelings of regret and sorrow, that I must be under 
the necessity of confessing that I have seen, since 
my return to Britain, more scenes of wretchedness 
and misery in one street, and in one day, in my 
own native city, than I ever witnessed in several 
of the principal cities of America, through a pe- 
riod of several years. No doubt, America has her 
own share of misery ; but there are few of her in- 
habitants who need want the necessaries of life, as 
work of some kind is always to be obtained, either 
in town or country. 

If any are determined not to work, but wander 
about as rogues and vagabonds, they are furnished 
c 



26 SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 

with a birth in the penitentiary, and are obliged to 
work. Old and infirm people, and all who are 
without the means, or powder of assisting, or pro- 
viding for themselves, find a comfortable asylum in 
the alms-house, where there are sometimes so 
many as 2000 inmates, who are comfortably fed 
and clothed, and are allowed to go out a few 
hours once a week to see their friends. 

It may be remarked, that an itinerant fiddler, 
flute-player, or balled singer, is a rare sight in the 
United States; so are all descriptions of puppet 
shows, and such like entertainments as may be 
seen in abundance at our fairs in Scotland. There 
is no doubt but that such establishments would pay 
well in America, as the citizens are extremely fond 
of every kind of frolicking, as they term it. 

The vast difference in regard to food and cloth- 
ing, consequently of personal comfort, between the 
lower and working classes of people in Europe, 
and those of America, has, and will be the subject 
of much discussion amongst politicians, espe- 
cially of the former country. I merely state what 
1 have seen and heard, and by no means pretend 
to account for causes and effects, which have so 
often been matter of argument to men of talents 
and information. Prejudice has certainly had its 
share in the business, and until that is removed, 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 2T 

the matter will be as much in the dark as ever. 
The merits of rthe case cannot be fairly judged of, 
as long as Britain has occasion to look upon Ame- 
rica as a rival ; nor can it be expected that the 
jrovernment of Britain can feel much satisfaction 
in seeing America peopled at her expense. 

The mechanics of New York, such as carpenters, 
for instance, go much better dressed than people 
employed in such occupations in Britain, their wa- 
ges affording it more readily. The wages of car- 
penters, masons, bricklayers, and tailors, are not so 
high, in comparison, to the prices paid to the same 
workmen in Britain, as what is paid to labourers. 
When a very great demand has been for brick- 
layers and carpenters, their wages have been as high 
as 2J to 3 dollars per day. The wages of such 
are never less than l^ dollar per day, even in dull 
times, and there is little likelihood of New York 
being overstocked with such workmen for years 
to come. Regarding domestic servants, or hired 
girls, as they are called, good encouragement is 
given. A girl who would receive £5 or £6 per 
annum in Glasgow, would readily obtain 6 dollars 
per month in New York ; and Scotish girls are 
preferred by many, as it is imagined they are more 
obedient and docile than Americans. They, how- 
2 c 



28 SIX years' residence 

ever, soon enough acquire the art of indepen* 
dence. 

It must be confessed, that the American women 
are much smarter than the average of Scotch ser- 
vants; fully as cleanly, and by no means so lazy 
in the morning. They generally have their work 
over before the evening, and do not then scruple 
to take a few hours' amusement, without giving 
themselves much trouble in consulting their mis- 
tress : indeed, such a word is not to be found in 
their vocabulary. As for cleaning their masters' 
boots, they would as soon put their fingers in the 
fire. An acquaintance of my own, who had newly 
arrived in New York, having gone forth to deliver 
a letter of introduction, inquired at the girl, who 
opened the door, if her master was within, which 
was answered by her closing the door in his face, 
exclaiming, " I have no master. Sir." The next 
day, he again called, and obtained admittance, by 
inquiring in a more familiar style, if Mr M. was 
at home. The servant girls in New York assume 
the title of " Miss;" their male visiting friends 
invariably making use of this term in inquiring for 
them. It is the general custom amongst a certain 
rank in life, and that by no means the lowest, to 
dine at the same table with their hired girls, or 
" helps," as they are occasionally styled. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 29 

By way of caution to any one into whose hands 
these remarks may fall, I shall relate a case of my 
own, in regard to taking servants to America. My 
wife having a young infant to take charge of, and 
having heard much regarding the disobedience, 
&c. of American servants, persuaded me to take 
out a young woman who had served with us 
in Glasgow. — I agreed to pay her passage out, 
which cost me £12. 12s., and to pay her at the 
rate of one guinea per month, from the time of her 
engagement, for the space of 3 years ; and if she 
married before that period, which, at her father's 
request, could not take place without my consent, 
she was to refund me the whole of the passage 
money. An agreement to the above effect was 
drawn out in writing in Glasgow. After residing 
in New York for about 18 months, I removed to 
Philadelphia, taking the young woman with me, 
who made no complaint, — but after residing in 
that city for the space of two months, she re- 
quested me to let her go back to New York, — 
Upon remonstrating with her upon this subject, 
and reminding her of our agreement, she said she 
was informed the agreement was not bindinj? in 
America. Her American acquaintances told her 
that she was in a free country, and that she was a 
free woman, &c. Upon insisting to knovv- tlie rea- 
3 c 



30 SIX years' residence 

son of her wishing to go to New York, she confessed 
a sort of attachment to a tradesman who had pro- 
mised to marry her if she would return. I made 
some inquiry regarding this person, and was in- 
formed that he had a wife and children at or near 
New York. This I made known to the girl, and 
endeavoured to dissuade her from such a prepos- 
terous step, and at length told her that I w^ould 
arrest her, should she endeavour to run away — not 
that she was near so clever and cleanly as the ge- 
nerality of American hirelings — but that I consi- 
dered myself as responsible to her parents. " Well, 
Mr N." said she at last, " I believe you may de- 
tain me ; but if I don't get to New York, I will 
walk over the wharf the first opportunity." See- 
ing that independence, or love, or some irresistible 
impulse swayed her mind, I no longer opposed 
her wishes, but paid her in full, without deducting 
a single penny for the passage money. If love 
can, and does break through stone-walls, any at- 
tempt on my part, in this case, to obstruct its 
course, would have been alike unnecessary and 
unavailing. I gave her a letter to a friend in 
New York, who hired her on my recommendation. 
I soon found that she had actually discovered, 
upon her arrival there, that her lover was really a 
married man. I am thus particular upon such an 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 31 

incident as this, as it may serve as a beacon to 
some family who may go to America. Upon 
making inquiry at some friends who had been long 
in America, whether I could have compelled her 
to fulfil her agreement, they informed me, that 
their laws would by no means enforce any agree- 
ment drawn out in Britain ; and farther, that in 
every case, principles of freedom are the order of 
the day. 



32 SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 



CHAPTER III. 

MANUFACTORIES — BUILDERS — STORE-KEEPERS— MERCHANTS AND 
TRADERS — AUCTIONEERS — ERIE CANAL — MR CLINTON — STEAM. 
BOATS. 

In New York, there are many manufactories of 
iron, brass and crystal. Very excellent hats are 
also made, which exceed those of British manufac- 
ture, at least in durability. A fine hat brings 10 
dollars. The cotton weavers and dyers are a con- 
siderable body ; and a great quantity of domestic 
goods are produced, principally sattinets, of wool- 
len and cotton, and a kind of course gauze for 
musquito nets. In 1814, there were only 2 looms 
in the city, now they may reckon near 1000. 

In cut glass and crystal the Americans have ex- 
hibited great proficiency, as several shops in Broad- 
way can testify. In manufacturing common crock- 
ery-ware, they are, however, far behind. In win- 
dow glass they are greatly behind the Dumbarton 
or Bristol manufacturers, as any one who has ever 
attempteti to look through a window of American 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 33 

glass must allow it is very uneven, wavy, and often 
of a greenish colour. The wholesale price at 
which it is sold, is an infallible evidence of its in- 
feriority. The price of English glass for instance, 
10 inches by 12, being 11 cents (6d.) per square 
foot, while that of America only brings 7 cents 
(4d.) nearly. I have never learned that the Ame- 
ricans have attempted any thing in the manufac- 
ture of fine cutlery. They have very extensive 
manufactories of nails, which are all cut by machi- 
nery. The retail price of such as single or double 
flooring, is from 8 to 10 cents per lb. (4d. to 54d.) 
In hollow ware, such as pots and kettles, I cannot 
say much in their favour ; such articles being, in 
general, very heavy and clumsy. I have in my 
possession a cast iron tea-kettle of American ma- 
nufacture, which is rather unique in its kind. 
Were I to bury it any where near the Roman 
Wall, and any one accidentally to come upon it 
some years hence, I have no doubt but that it 
would prove a very acceptable present to the 
Hunterian Museum. It is f^arnished with three 
short feet, and the handle (which is moveable) and 
the spout are somewhat awkwardly placed ; but 
after all, I fear it is rather illiberal in me to cavil 
at the merits of my American tea-kettle, which I 
have brought so far, while truth forces me to con- 



'34 SIX years' residence 

fess, that the water which this said utensil has been 
the means of heating, produced as good tea or 
coiFee as ever was manufactured through the in- 
strumentality of any like machine from the far- 
famed banks of Carron or Clyde. 

The Americans have made great progress in 
the woollen manufacture. I have seen broad- 
cloth made in New England, of really an exqui- 
site fineness and finish, which brought as high as 
12 dollars (5is.) per yard: in the coarser fabrics 
they do a great deal, and their carpet manufacto- 
ries are apparently thriving. — A great part of this 
last article is made from cotton. 

The storekeepers of America, in general, are 
not very remarkable for politeness to their custom- 
ers : they seem to think that they are rather con- 
ferring a favour upon the purchaser than other- 
wise, and exhibit their wares with great coolness, 
using few blandishments to ensure sales. The 
owners of grocery and such like stores, in some in- 
stances, support very elegant establishments. In 
Broadway, it is not uncommon to observe a gro- 
cery, which, in general, is also a provision store, 
and casting your eye on the adjoining door of a 
splendid house, you may observe the shopkeeper's 
name engraven in brass in a suitable style, the win- 
dows being adorned with satin curtains lined with 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 35 

silk, to the value of at least half a ton of ba- 
con. 

The New York merchants are, in general, pret- 
ty fair and honourable in their dealings ; but owing 
to the great number of adventurers from foreign 
countries, and men of mere speculation, there can- 
not exist so much faith and confidence amongst 
traders in general, as may be found in old establish- 
ed countries. In comparison to Britain, there are 
few real sterling houses, and several occurrences 
which have of late taken place in New York and 
Philadelphia, have by no means a tendency to exalt 
the mercantile character of the Americans. One 
of these circumstances excited a very considera- 
ble share of public indignation and clamour ; and 
live or six merchants of the first standing were im- 
plicated in this odious business, and brought to 
publiq trial. It was at first imagined, and hoped 
tor by the middling ranks, that some of these ho- 
nourable gentlemen would find a birth in the state 
prison ; but wealth and influence can do a great 
deal in their courts of justice. The matter was 
settled as quietly as possible. The case was this, 
a number of individuals established a bank, and 
also an insurance company or two, issued notes to 
a large amount, sold out as many shares as possi- 
ble, converted their paper into gold and silver, and 



36 SIX years' residence 

left the holders of then* paper to whistle on their 
thumb. The whole transaction took place, I think, 
within a twelve month, and carried much knavery 
in the face of it. A circumstance took place in 
Philadelphia in 1826, which created a very great 
noise indeed, as government were the victims in 
this case. A person (a quaker by the bye) whose 
character stood high for many years as an East 
India merchant, and was universally esteemed, 
had, it seems, been (to use a Yankee phrase) shav- 
ing the government. He imported immense quan- 
tities of tea, which was deposited in the custom- 
house stores, of which an officer of the customs 
kept one key, and the importer another. Some- 
how or other, the tea found its way to the break- 
fast tables of the citizens, without the ceremony of 
paying duty, and before the matter was discovered, 
the revenue had suiFered a loss of 900,000 dollars. 
Great quantities of it which had been shipped to 
New York and other places, were seized by go- 
verment in the hands of persons who had bought 
and paid for it ; in consequence of which, many 
honest and worthy merchants sustained a heavy 
loss. The quaker was arrested on board one of 
the packets for Liverpool, about 40 miles below 
Philadelphia. How the matter was finally settled 
I have not learned. Such transactions amongst 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 3T 

what may be called the mercantile aristocracy of 
America, casts a shade of doubt on many traders 
of honour and integrity. 

A great deal of business is carried on in New 
York by auctioneers, who stand much higher than 
the same description of people in Britain. One 
house annually sells goods and property to the 
amount of seven or eight million dollars. Much 
noise and confusion occasionally prevail at the 
auction rooms, and sometimes not a little trifling. 
People who look upon themselves as men of con- 
sideration, do not hesitate to reach their hand over 
their neighbour's shoulder, and pull the coat tail, 
or give the hat of a third person a knock in such 
a manner, as that some one else may be implicated 
for the mischief. Such childishness would hardly 
be tolerated by the youngest boys of a school in 
Britain. It is, however, all done in good humour, 
and may be looked upon merely as the ebullitions 
of liberty. There is not so much distinction kept 
up between merchants and their clerks here as in 
Britain : this is imagined to be rather productive 
of good than otherwise. 

I have no hesitation in saying, that the New 
York merchants and traders in general, are a race 
of men with whom it is extremely pleasant to trans- 
act business. They are what may be called quite 



38 SIX years' residence 

ofF-hand gentlemen, and by no means use much 
haggling in concluding their bargains. 

The system of banking is carried on to great 
extent in all the towns of America, and seemingly 
with great advantages to the shareholders. In New- 
York, on discounting notes, interest is charged at 
the rate of six per cent, per annum, on all bills or 
notes having less than 60 days to run ; over that 
date, interest is charged at the rate of seven per 
cent, per annum, and no interest is allowed on cash 
deposited. A person opening an account with any 
bank, may lodge or draw out money fifty times in 
one day, if so disposed, and for any odd number of 
dollars and cents. This is very convenient for 
merchants in the settlement of accounts. 

A considerable deal of private discounting, or 
what is generally termed shaving, is practised in 
America. I have heard of such extortion in this 
usurious traffic, as the shaver charging five per 
cent, per month on notes which had six months to 
run, thereby squeezing 30 per cent, out of the dis- 
tressed shavee. An old Scotsman, who resided in 
Charleston, and came home to his native place 
near Dundee, a few years ago, worth about 
^70,000, informed me, that he had repeatedly dis- 
counted bills on the above terms. The most com- 
mon interest, however, charged amongst the more 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 39 

conscientious kind of shavers, I have understood to 
be about two to three per cent, per month. 

The trade of New York has increased beyond 
all precedent since the peace with Britain in 1815. 
Formerly Philadelphia had the greatest share of 
the commerce of the United States, now the case 
is altered ; the duties annually collected in the sin- 
gle port of New York being equal to two-thirds of 
the whole amount of duties collected in the United 
States. One great drawback to the prosperity of 
Philadelphia is the long navigation from the ocean 
to the city (about 130 miles), and the river being 
frozen sometimes for two or three months in win- 
ter. The harbour of New York has been frozen 
only once since 1780, at which time the British 
army crossed from New York to the opposite 
shore upon the ice. I was acquainted with people 
who walked over to Staten Island, a distance of 
eight miles, in the winter of 1821. 

The happy situation of New York guarantees 
to it a preference over any harbour in America. 
The command of country possessed by the Hud- 
son, and more than all, the opening of the Erie 
canal, must ensure to New York an increase of 
trade beyond calculation. It is confidently anti- 
cipated, that the time will arrive, when the city will 
extend over the whole island of Manhattan (a 
D 2 



40 SIX years' residence 

space of 15 miles by IJ). Streets are already 
marked out to the distance of six or seven miles. 

The builders in New York are good mechanics, 
and very expert at rearing houses with expedition. 
In 1825, it was said that there were about 2,500 
houses erected in the city and suburbs. They 
are also very expert at removing houses out of 
their position. In 1823, I saw a two story brick 
house, with chimneys and all, standing, removed 
back from a street, to the distance of 23 feet, and 
placed nearly three feet higher than it formerly 
stood. This was effected in a very ingenious man- 
ner, by means of the screw. While it was in the 
process of removal, about 150 people remained in 
it, by way of experiment, and the motion was so 
imperceptible, that a tumbler full of water placed 
on a mantle piece, did not run over a single drop. 

The Erie canal stretches from Albany to Lake 
Erie, a distance of 363 miles, through a rich coun- 
try. The width of this canal is about 40 feet; but 
little more than four feet in depth. The highest 
part of the canal is about 660 feet above the Hud- 
son. Lake Erie is about 550 feet above the same 
level ; consequently, the locks are mostly on one 
side of the rise. This great undertaking was pro- 
jected, and, in a great measure, carried into effect, 
by Governor Clinton, who possesses both talents 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 41 

and patriotism in a very eminent degree : he truly 
merits the approbation and respect of his country- 
men. At his first suggestion of the scheme, he 
encountered little but opposition and taunts, and 
was even looked upon as non-compos. He survey- 
ed it, however, was at great personal expense, and 
persisted in his plan until the eyes of his countrymen 
were opened. As an instance of the great estima- 
tion in which Mr Clinton was held by the refined 
part of his countrymen, I may observe, that one 
day while I was sitting in the office of a lawyer, 
transacting some business, a bust upon the mantle- 
piece attracted my attention. Upon inquiring at 
the lawyer whether that was the bust of Cicero, 
he answered with a sort of sneer, " No, Sir ; it is 
that of a man worth ten thousand Ciceros, or all 
your British heroes put together." " And pray," 
said I, quite simply, " who is it then ? for I never 
heard of any very particular great man amongst 
you except Washington, and I am sure that's not 
him." " It is a man, Sir, that all the world 
should know ;" answered he, " it is De-witt Clin- 
ton !" The whole expense of the undertaking has 
been about 9,000,000 dollars (£2,000,000 sterling.) 
The rapidly increasing revenue shows the great 
benefit it will be to the country in general; it will 
also amply repay the shareholders. Before the se- 
D 8 



42 SIX years' residence 

vere frost sets in, the water is drawn off, as it would 
freeze so much in winter, that a good part of the 
spring would be lost in thawing it. The passage- 
boats on it are very convenient, and travel night 
and da}^ at the rate of about 3J to 4^ miles an hour. 
The fare, including provisions, is four cents per 
mile. This mighty work was begun and finished 
in the space of about six years ; it cannot, there- 
fore, be denied, but that the Americans are enter- 
prising and persevering, and withal, possess the 
means of executing great undertakings. 

The first vessel impelled by steam in America, 
was set a-going in New York. Mr Robert Fulton, 
in conjunction with Mr Livingston, also an Ameri- 
can, had projected the plan several years before it 
was put in execution ; and it would appear, that it 
was from our countryman, Henry Bell, that they 
received the first hint. The Americans will not al- 
low this, but facts are stubborn things. Mr Ful- 
ton himself never pretended to be the inventor ; 
but certainly he was the first who reduced steam 
navigation to practice. Like many other benefac- 
tors of mankind, he was but ill- requited for his 
pains. Something, however, was done for his 
widow and children in 1807. The Clermont, of 
160 tons, was built for Mr Fulton ; and in her first 
voyage to Albany, she succeeded beyond expec- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 43 

tation. Her first appearance is thus described by 
an American : — " The Clermont, on her first voy- 
age, arrived at the place of her destination with- 
out any accident. She excited the astonishment 
of the inhabitants of the shores of the Hudson ; 
many of whom had not even heard of a steam-en- 
ffine, much less of a steam-boat. Those who saw 
her passing in the night, describe her as a monster 
moving on the waters, defying the winds and tide, 
and breathing fire and smoke. She presented a 
most terrific appearance to vessels navigating the 
river at the time. The first steam-boats (as they 
still do), used dry pine wood for fuel, which sends 
a column of ignited vapour many feet above the 
flue; and whenever the fire is stirred, a galaxy of 
sparks fly off", which in the night make a beautiful 
and brilliant appearance. This uncommon light 
attracted the attention of the crews of other ves- 
sels. Notwithstanding the wind and tide were ad- 
verse to its approach, they perceived with asto- 
nishment, that it was rapidly approaching them ; 
and when it came so near as that the noise of the 
machinery and paddles was heard, the crews, in 
some instances, shrunk beneath the decks from the 
terrific sight, — others left the vessels and made for 
the shore, — while others, again, prostrated them- 
selves, and besought Providence to protect them 
from the approach of the horrible monster." 



44 SIX years' residence 

The Americans have now carried the building 
of steam-vessels to an amazing extent. There are 
upwards of 50 large steam-boats plying on the 
Mississipi; and there is no town of any importance, 
accessible by water, that wants them. Several 
start every day from New York for Albany, New 
Brunswick, New- Haven, and other ports. Some of 
those which run to Albany are from 500 to 600 
tons burthen. The Chancellor Livingston is 165 
feet on deck, by 50 in width, and can accommodate 
above 200 passengers has a separate cabin for 
ladies, and is very handsomely fitted up. In 1823, 
the fare was six dollars, provisions included. The 
distance is 165 miles ; average time of completing 
the trip, 18 hours. Since then, the fare is as low as 
two dollars, exclusive of provisions. There is one 
glaring defect on board the whole of the American 
steam-boats, and that is the want of books and news- 
papers. In the Albany boats you may apply to the 
bar-keeper for a book, who will charge you 1 2 J cents 
(7d.) per volume. This almost looks like extoition ; 
and yet the Americans are everlastingly puffing 
about the merits of their steam-boat accommodation. 
In the same boats, also, Td. is charged for a glass 
of wine or brandy. The day after the Erie canal 
was opened, I came down from Albany in compa- 
ny with 250 passengers. The same vessel had 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 45 

taken up 630 passengers the day previous to this, 
and it was her second trip that week. This was 
certainly doing business to advantage. The cur- 
rent expenses on board such a boat are, however, 
very considerable ; the number of hands employed, 
including cooks, stewards, Sec, being about 30.* 

* A gentleman just arrived from the United States (March, 
1830), informed me the other day, that shortly before he left 
New York, a steam-boat had arrived at the latter place from 
Albany in the very short space of 10 hours and 37 minutes. 
As the tide flows as far up as Albany, the stream cannot be 
favourable to any vessel more than six hours in such a pas- 
sage, and of course, must be against it for the rest of the time. 



46 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER IV. 

PUBLIC MARKETS — BUTCHERS' PROCESSION — HOUSEKEEPING — COL- 
LEGES — MUSEUM — POST-OFFICE — MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT — AS- 
SIZE OF BREAD, &C. — FIRE-ENGINES — STATE PRISON — EXECU- 
TIONS — LAWS REGARDING DEBTORS — GAMBLING AND LOTTERIES 
— DRINKING, AS PRACTISED. 

There are eight or ten public markets in New 
York, which are generally well supplied with every 
necessary and luxury of life. It has been said, 
that in the course of the year, eight different kinds 
of wild quadrupeds, five of amphibious creatures, 
150 of birds, and a great variety of fish, may be 
found in the markets of New York. Many re- 
spectable men may be seen in the morning making- 
purchases, and carrying home their bargains in 
their hand. People in the same rank in Scotland 
would imagine themselves degraded by carrying a 
leg of mutton, or a junk of raw beef along the 
streets : custom sanctions the practice here. The 
inhabitants generally seem duly to appreciate the 
good things of this life. Turtle soup meets with a 
steady and extensive demand. One of the principal 
hotel-keepers occasionally entertains his customers 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 47 

with a bill of fare, which could not easily be pro- 
cured in Britain. Amongst a variety of dishes he 
advertises bears, wild cats, racoons, opossums, 
squirrels, herons, bald eagles, vultures, owls of 
various kinds, land and sea-turtle, &c. 

The butchers of New York, now and then 
amuse and delight their fellow citizens, by a sort 
of procession, in which they exhibit their merchan- 
dise, in the shape of immense over-grown oxen. 
When they obtain any cattle of a remarkable size, 
they dress them up with ribbons of various col- 
ours, and adorn their heads and horns with small 
flags, bearing of course, the national stars and 
stripes. Several of the most portly gentlemen of 
the profession, decked out in a similar manner, and 
riding in gigs, precede their four-legged victims, 
accompanied with drums and fifes through the 
principal streets. It reminded me of some ancient 
procession of Bacchus, of whom some of the New 
York butchers are no bad representation. The 
state of New York has produced many extraordi- 
nary cattle, not unfrequently weighing 4000 lbs. 

Regarding house-keeping in New York, it may 
be observed, that rents are much higher than in 
Glasgow ; for example, a two-story house, situated 
in a convenient part of the town for business, and 
containing five or six apartments, besides kitchen 



48 SIX years' residence 

and cellars, cannot be had under 250 dollars, 
(£56 5s.) per annum ; and if it be in one of the 
most genteel streets, the rent will be 300 or 350 
dollars. In State street, some very large houses 
rent as high as 1500 dollars per annum, (£337 
10s.) 

Fuel is a very expensive article in New York. 
From actual experience, I found that it cost about 
140 dollars, (<^3I, lOs.) per annum, for wood, to 
keep three fires going in winter, and one in sum- 
mer. Some people have tried Liverpool coal, 
which generally sells at 10 to 12 dollars (45s. to 
54s.) per ton weight. This article will be pro- 
cured, by and by, much cheaper from Philadelphia. 
Stoves are greatly used, which save in fuel con- 
siderably. 

Articles of household furniture are tolerably 
cheap ; a mahogany sideboard worth 20 guineas 
in Glasgow, may be purchased new for 60 dollars, 
(^13 15s.) and a chest of drawers may be had 
for 20 dollars, (<^4 10s.) which would cost £8 in 
Glasgow. Other articles, such as chairs and ta- 
bles, are equally cheap. 

Education for children may be had on various 
terms ; but even poor people are at no loss in re- 
gard to this, for at least the more useful branches. 
There are several free schools in New York, sup- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 49 

ported chiefly by the state, where people may 
have their children educated on very low terms ; 
or if they cannot at all afford it, they are taught 
gratis. 

In 1813, the fund for the support of free 
schools in the state of New York, amounted to 
500,000 dollars, producing an annual revenue of 
36,000 dollars. The system of education adopted 
in some of these schools, is that of Joseph Lan- 
caster. 

In the southern states, education is very high. 
The terms of a respectable female academy in 
Charleston may be quoted. 

[Per Quarter. 

Reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, English 

grammar, and sewing, . . 12 dollars. (54s.) 

Writing and arithmetic, parsing and composi- 
tion, geography, history, &c. . . 20 (90s.) 

Fine needle work, with every description") 

of embroidery, lace, bead, shell, and >■ 20 (90s.) 

filagree work, . . J 

Painting in oil and water colours, 20 (90s.) 

Small children of either sex, 6 (27s.) 

There are two colleges in New York, viz. 
Columbia, formerly called king's college, and the 
college of physicians and surgeons. The medical 
department in the former was lately united to the 
latter, so that it now contains only a faculty of 
arts, having professors in Moral Philosophy, one 
of Classical Literature, one of Mathematics, Natu- 

E 



50 SIX years' residence 

ral Philosophy, Astronomy, Geography and 
Chronology, one of Logic, Rhetoric, and Belles 
Lettres, and one of Botany. It may readily be 
imagined, that some of these teachers will have 
quite enough to do. This college is possessed of 
an extensive philosophical apparatus, also a lib- 
rary, museum, and anatomical theatre. 

The college of Physicians has professors on the 
theory and practice of Physic and Obstetrics, on 
Chemistry and Materia Medica, on Anatomy, 
Physiology and Surgery, on Natural History, on 
the classical practice of Medicine, on the princi- 
ples and practice of Surgery, and on the institutes 
of Medicine, and Medical Jurisprudence. In 
these institutions, it is not indispensably necessary 
that the student should attend a certain course of 
lectures for a certain number of years. The Pro- 
fessors insist upon the attainments of the student, 
and not upon the number of years he has attended. 
He may attend what classes he thinks proper, al- 
though certain qualifications must be attained to 
entitle him to a diploma. 

The number of medical practitioners in New 
York is reckoned to be about 350. This is 
thought by most people to be quite too many. 
The general charge made throughout America, 
both by physicians and surgeons, is one dollar per 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 51 

visit : in some places a little higher is charged ; 
and a few men of eminence in the large towns 
charge still higher. 

In New-England, there are several colleges upon 
an extensive scale. Harvard College near Boston, 
and Yale College in Connecticut, are the most ce- 
lebrated. The college of Hanover in New Hamp- 
shire has more than 20 professors ; but not gene- 
rally over 250 students. The college of Prince- 
town, in New Jersey, is well known as a school of 
divinity. It has conferred degrees on several 
learned and reverend citizens of Glasgow. Phila- 
delphia is celebrated as an excellent medical school. 
The colleges in the southern and western states 
are upon a limited scale ; and the inhabitants of 
these states frequently send their youth for in- 
struction to Europe, or the northern states. It 
may be safely asserted, that the average number of 
students attending all the colleges in America, does 
not greatly exceed the number annually attending 
the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow^ 

The museum in New York is a private collection, 
and contains many good specimens of natural his- 
tory. A very large turtle is the most remarkable ob- 
ject to be seen in it : it was taken off Sandy Hook, 
and weighed about 1000 lbs.; the length of it is 
about eight feet. There are no manuscripts or 
E 2 



52 SIX years' residence 

rare books, and the coins are hardly worth men- 
tioning. 

There are several other institutions here for pro- 
moting science, such as the Botanic Garden, the 
Academy of Fine Arts, the Lyceum of Natural 
History, &c. There are also a great number of 
charitable societies, and several Bible and Mission- 
ary societies, a bare list of which would occupy 
considerable space. 

The post-office department in New York is con- 
ducted under good regulations. All ship letters 
arriving from foreign ports, whether single or not, 
are delivered at the post-office for 6^ cents (3^d.) 
each. Those forwarded to other parts of the states, 
are charged 2 cents in addition to the inland post- 
age, by the United States mail. Single letters are 
charged as follows : 

Any distance not exceeding 20 miles, 6^ cents, about S^d. 

4id. 

5Jd. 

6fd. 

lOd. 

.. 13ld. 

Newspapers are charged each one cent for less 
than 100 miles distance, and one cent and a half 
for a greater. 

The mail-coaches in the northern slates are 



30 .. 


8 


over 30 and less than 80 .. 


. 10 


... 80 150 .. 


. 12i 


... 150 400 .. 


. m 


over 400 .. 


. 25 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 53 

Strongly and handsomely built, and supplied with 
excellent horses. The roads in many places are 
good. In the southern states, the stages are gene- 
rally very clumsy machines, and the roads in many 
parts being merely composed of loose sand, their 
speed is consequently not great. The mail road, 
from the extremity of New England to New Or- 
leans, extends nearly 2000 miles. As it is not the 
object of the American government to derive any 
revenue from the post-office department, the 
charges and income are in general about equal. 
As an example of the amazing increase of the 
commerce of America, it may be stated, that in 
1792, the number of post-offices did not exceed 
200, and the revenue was about 67,000 dollars ; 
in 1828, the number of post-offices was about 8000, 
and the revenue nearly 1,500,000 dollars. , 

The municipal government of New York is 
vested in a mayor, ten aldermen, and as many as- 
sistant aldermen. The salary of the mayor is 
sometimes as good as 10,000 dollars per annum. 
The judges of the Supreme Court, and the Court 
of Chancery, are allowed 5000 dollars per annum 
each. These courts, as well as the Court of 
Session, Surrogates Office, &c. are held in the 
City-Hall. The police of the city is under very 
good regulations. The watchmen are paid 4s. 
E 3 



54 SIX years' residence 

sterling per night, and the streets are generally or- 
derly and quiet. It is but seldom or never, that a 
passenger is interrupted in his progress along the 
streets, by a group of ruffians standing at corners, 
or by the impertinent solicitation of women of a 
certain description ; — and in day-light the eye of 
modesty is in little danger of being offended by the 
sight of such troops of bare-faced and abandoned 
females infesting the streets, as may daily be wit- 
nessed in some places that shall be nameless. 
Many such creatures there are, no doubt, in New 
York, but a particular part of the city seems to be 
appropriated to their use. 

The mayor and council who appoint all laws re- 
garding the cleaning of the streets, observance of 
Sunday, rates of cartage, regulations of markets, 
assize of bread, &c. have formed excellent laws for 
carrying these matters into execution; but these 
regulations are daily grossly violated with impu- 
nity. In winter especiall}^, many of the streets 
swarm with large hogs, to the great danger and 
annoyance of passengers. A pig which was 
abroad one day on a foraging party, being startled 
by some boys, somehow or other ran foul of a 
young lady, in such a manner, that she was fairly 
carried across Broadway, and lodged in the kennel. 
I recollect one winter when the mud had accumu- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 55 

lated to such a degree in a narrow street, that 
there was no free passage, some wags placed a 
small tree in the centre of a heap of mud, with a 
suitable hint addressed to the public authorities 
stuck upon it : this had instantly the effect of put* 
ting the city scavenger in mind of his duty. The 
assize of bread, and the inspection of beef and 
flour are well attended to. For the information 
of gentlemen in the baking line, I may state, that 
by law, a barrel of flour weighing 196 lbs. nett, 
is estimated to produce 4032 ounces, or 252 lbs. 
of bread. A profit of 4 J dollars is allowed to the 
baker on each barrel, so that adding this sum to 
the price of the flour, and dividing by 12^, will 
show the number of loaves each barrel ought to 
produce at 12i cents (6|d.) 4032 Divided by 
this last number, will show the weight of each 
loaf. For example : 

One barrel flour at 6 dollars. 
Baker's profit, 4^ — 



lOi or 



Drs. Cts. 

12i) 10 25 (82 )4032 ozs. 



Each loaf, 48,^ ozs. 
The inspectors have power to enter bake-houses 



56 SIX years' residence 

at all hours, to see that no unsuitable ingredients 
are put into the bread. 

In New York, there are a great number of fire- 
engines kept up, which are worked by the citizens, 
who have associated themselves into companies. 
When a fire takes place, the church bells are rung 
vigorously and incessantly, to distinguish the sig- 
nal from that of calling to church on Sundays, 
when they are tolled slow as at funerals in 
Scotland. The firemen turn out very readily on 
the least alarm, and 20 or 30 engines are soon 
collected on the scene of danger. These machines 
are in general small, and adorned with a profusion 
of gingerbread work. The gentlemen who turn out, 
although each engine is undercharge of a captain, 
observe very little order or subordination. You may 
see 20 or 30 citizens about one engine, pulling and 
hauling the pipes in every direction, and swearing 
at one another with very little ceremony, — every 
one wishing to be master, and few willing to obey. 
There is little doubt, but that two Glasgow en- 
gines, with the proper firemen, could do more 
execution in half an hour, than 20 New York en- 
gines in the way the matter is conducted. When 
La Fayette paid a visit to New York in 1824, the 
firemen gave a complete display of their know- 
ledge of hydrostatics, for the generaPs amuse- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 57 

ment, by collecting 45 engines in the park before 
the City-Hall, and squirting water into the air for 
the space of half an hour : no doubt this was 
great entertainment to the good old marquess ; the 
steam frigate, however, in operation, would have 
been quite a magnificent fete ! 

Were the penal laws of Great Britain as severe 
in the execution, as in the letter, it might be truly 
said, they were written in blood, — more than 200 
different crimes incurring sentence of death. The 
Americans have framed the most of their laws and 
institutions after the manner of their ancestors, 
and, in some cases, with considerable improve- 
ments. There are, however, but few crimes in 
America punished with death, — the law blending 
mercy with justice in a very eminent degree, hav- 
ing the reformation of the criminal as much an ob- 
ject to be desired as the mere satisfying of the law. 
Many an unfortunate wretch, whose life alone 
could atone for his offence in Britain, would, un- 
der the American criminal laws, have had the op- 
portunity of acquiring habits of industry and ho- 
nesty, and returned to society, with proper notions 
of that equity which man owes to his fellow. The 
American state prisons are established on wise 
and good principles ; and, in many instances, have 
been actually profitable to tlie state in which they 



58 SIX years' residence 

are erected, — condemnation to the state prison for 
life being a more formidable punishment to many 
a desperado, than the gallows itself; the very idea 
of being cooped up from their companions, and 
compelled to observe industrious and regular ha- 
bits, operating upon their uncontrollable passions, 
as a continual succession of penalties. The state 
prison of New York is a large building, enclosed 
by high walls, capable of containing 500 convicts : 
it is sometimes full of inmates. No criminals are 
sentenced to this prison for less than three years. 
Upon admission, they are required to clean them- 
selves, and are accommodated with a new dress of 
striped cotton, if in summer ; and of woollen, if 
in winter. A particular dress is put upon those 
who have been more than once committed. They 
are immediately set to work at some trade, and in 
case they have been brought up to none, are in- 
structed in some one of the branches which are 
carried on in the prison, viz. shoemaking, weaving, 
brush-making, coopers, turners, blacksmiths, tai- 
lors, painters, carpenters, carding, spinning, and 
whip-making. They commence work at six o'clock 
in summer, and at day-light in winter, and con- 
tinue until six in the evening. They are locked 
up in separate rooms, which accommodate eight 
men each, at nine o'clock in summer, and eight in 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 59 

winter. The prison is kept comfortably warm in 
cold weather ; and should any prisoner fall sick, 
the utmost attention and kindness is paid by phy- 
sicians who daily visit the prison, and a youno- 
surgeon constantly resides in the house. The ut- 
most decency and order is observed in the prison, 
a keeper and 16 assistants being constantly on the 
look out. 

The prisoners receive cocoa and molasses for 
breakfast, and soup made of shins of beef, &c. 
for dinner, with plenty of potatoes, and once a 
week a dinner of pork; their supper consists of 
Indian meal porridge and molasses ; many of the 
workmen who are remarked for industry and 
sobriety, are occasionally indulged with a pint of 
beer. Every inducement is held out to encourage 
them in good conduct, and their sentence is cur- 
tailed a fourth part, provided they have behaved 
well, and have earned 15 dollars per annum. An 
account is opened with each prisoner, who re- 
ceives credit for his earnings, and at the end of 
his confinement he receives 20 per cent of what 
sum may be at his credit, deducting his expenses ; 
the balance goes towards the support of the in- 
stitution. In certain cases, the prisoner's family 
are allowed to receive his earnings while in prison. 
It is no uncommon thing for a prisoner to leave 



60 SIX years' residence 

this place with 150 dollars in his pocket to begin 
the world with : they generally emigrate to some 
part of the country where they are unknown, and 
many of them have turned out good members of 
society, after having gone through the ordeal of 
the state prison. A chaplain attends to the esta- 
blishment, and such of the prisoners as are igno- 
rant, receive instruction in reading. A specimen 
of the convictions, for one year, may be given, 
viz. 173 Americans, 15 Irish, 13 English, I Scot, 
1 Frenchman, 1 German, 3 Nova Scotians, 
3 West Indians, 1 Portuguese, I Swede, and 
1 Dutchman.* 

* Crimes, the commission of which subject the perpetra- 
tors to confinement in the state prison, are as follows ; 

Imprisonment for life. — Rape, robbery, burglary, sodomy ; 
breaking into a dwelling, and stealing, some person therein 
being put in fear ; forging the proof of a deed, or the certifi- 
cate of its being recorded ; forging public securities, counter- 
feiting gold or silver coin ; a second offence of committing 
arson in an uninhabited house, barn, or mill ; forging a 
record, deed, will, bond, bill, receipt, warrant, or order, and 
all offences above the degree of petit larceny, not otherwise 
provided for. 

For life, or some shorter period in the discretion of the 
court. — Forging any charter, will, note, bond, or deed. 

For life, or some shorter period not less than seven years.— 
Selling or exchanging a counterfeit note, engraving any plate 
for making such notes, or having such notes in possession 
with intent of passing, or plates for forging such notes. 

Not exceeding fourteen years. — Stealing a record, '&c. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 6l 

The execution of a criminal is a rare occurrence 
in America; in April, 1824, a man was executed 
in New York, for a very atrocious murder. 
There were about 50,000 people present on the 
occasion, a great part of whom consisted of well- 
arson of an uninhabited house, mill, &c. ; counterfeiting any 
deed or will, (not affecting real estate,) bond, bill, or note, 
unless negotiable; forging any warrant or order not being a 
bill of exchange, endorsement or assignment thereof, and 
every offence for petit larceny not otherwise provided for; 
for forcibly marrying a woman against her will, poisoning, 
where death does not ensue within a year and day, a second 
assault with intent to rob, murder, or commit a rape, acknow- 
ledging a fine, bail, &c. in the name of another. 

Not exceeding ten years. — Aiding a prisoner to escape from 
the state prison, or any other prison, convicted of felony, per- 
jury, or subornation of perjury, false swearing under the 
insolvent act, under the absent or absconding debtors' act, 
lottery managers swearing false, the like in surveyors under 
the land-officer, before a commissioner in chancery or supreme 
court. 

Not exceeding seven years. — Having in possession counter, 
feit gold or silver, with intent to pass the same, assault with 
intent to rob, murder, or commit a rape, serving process under 
foreign authority. 

Not exceeding five years. — A' second conviction, of buying 
or resetting stolen goods, or obtaining money by false preten- 
ces, or accessary after the fact to any felony not otherwise 
provided for. 

Not exceeding three years. Petit larceny, buying or re- 
ceiving stolen goods, obtaining money by false pretences; all 
cases of conviction for larceny, shall be deemed petit larceny, 
unless the goods so stolen shall exceed 25 dollars in value. 
F 



62 SliX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

dressed females. The sheriff and his depute 
performed the office of hangmen, upon this 
occasion, with great eclat; they, positively, 
seemed to enjoy the fulfilment of this part of their 
duty, although they might easily have procured a 
substitute. The female part of the community 
seemed to have forgotten their usual good feelings 
on this occasion. An acquaintance of my own, a 
Scotish lady, who was that day visiting a friend, 
was much struck by the entrance of a young 
belle, who instantly accosted the lady of the house, 

with " La ! Mrs C , why were you not out at 

the hanging to-day, I guess you've lost a fine 
sight, — Mr Wendover seems a very clever man !" 
She then put the question to my friend, who ex- 
pressed herself in terms of astonishment, that any 
female of ^respectability would be present at such 
an exhibition. The young lady seemed of course 
not a little nettled, but exclaimed, " Oh, my — 
my," (the usual oath, ejaculation, or whatever it 
may be termed, of many an American female,) 
" why, I assure you, Ma*am, there were thou- 
sands of respectable ladies present, and of the 
first rank too, I guess." It is certain, there were 
a vast number of coaches present, filled with 
ladies. Far be it from me to surmise that dove- 
eyed pity for suffering humanity, resides not in 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 63 

the bosoms of the fair daughters of Columbia; but, 
every thing of the nature of parade or show, 
carries a charm along with it, which it would 
appear the damsels of New York have not the 
fortitude to resist. 

Each State has its own peculiar laws regarding 
bankrupts; in New York, for instance, persons 
confined in prison for any debt not exceeding 
25 dollars, exclusive of costs, upon applying to 
any judge or justice of the city, and making oath, 
that his real or personal estate does not in value 
exceed 25 dollars, over and above the articles 
exempted by law, from seizure in execution, is 
entitled to be set at liberty ; his person cannot 
again be attached for the same debt, but his pro- 
perty may. Persons charged in execution, for 
debts to a greater amount than 25 dollars, after 
remaining three months in prison, must, in order to 
obtain their liberty, present a petition to the court 
from whence the process issued, upon which they 
were imprisoned, setting forth the cause of impri- 
sonment, and accompanying this with a true state 
of their affairs, and an account of all their pro- 
perty, which they must give up, upon oath, for 
the benefit of their creditors, with the exception 
of their necessary wearing apparel, bedding, and 
working tools, not exceeding 50 dollars in value. 
F 2 



64f SIX years' residence 

If there is no objection made to the fairness of this 
statement, the debtor is instantly discharged, and 
the property only which he may afterwards 
acquire, is attachable for the debt 

In New York, creditors are not obliged to make 
any allowance to a debtor in prison ; and as the 
laws of the State allow nothing, the prisoners, if 
very poor, might starve ; but the Humane Society 
supplies such as are in actual want, with victuals 
and fire. In Charleston, South Carolina, and 
some other places, the creditor must allow his 
debtor an aliment, which is usually about Is. 6d. 
sterling per day. 

America has been, by many Europeans, deno- 
minated an asylum for the rogues of other coun- 
tries ; but this assertion has perhaps been made 
without due consideration. In one respect, it is 
the very worst place in which a sharper may exer- 
cise his abilities, as (no disparagement to America 
in general, I hope), he will be apt to meet with 
numbers as acute as himself; and the fact is, that 
in America, strangers are but too often looked 
upon with suspicion and distrust. This feeling 
has arisen from mutual illiberality : genuine can- 
dour, and a due measure of forbearance on both 
sides, will alone remove it. It has been often al- 
leged, that the Americans are greatly in the habit 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 65 

of getting into debt, squandering their property, 
and cheating their creditors : this, of course, in 
a country almost wholly mercantile, is sometimes 
the case ; but rash speculation is more frequently 
the cause of bankruptcy in America, than the be- 
fore-mentioned causes. A man may deprive his 
lawful creditors of their due, by assigning over his 
property to another person, whom he denominates 
his creditor ; but this cannot be done without cer- 
tain forms, — and no case of actual fraud can take 
place, without perjury on some side or other, — 
and if this can be established, the offender is lia- 
ble to the punishment of the state prison. Im- 
prisonment for debt is now, in some States, altoge- 
ther abolished ; no person, it is said, being under 
the necessity of crediting another, unless he 
chooses. This may operate to limit trade, but it 
is questioned whether commerce ever reaped much 
benefit by the imprisonment of debtors. In the 
state of Pennsylvania, no female can be imprisoned 
for debt. 

The Americans have been accused of gambling : 
this may have been asserted with some degree of 
plausibility. There are severe penalties enacted 
against it, although it is practised in a quiet way in 
many places to a considerable extent. A citizen of 
Charleston informed me, that he was one niglit 
F 3 



66 

taken by a friend to a certain place in that city, 
who repeated some cabalistical words to the door- 
keeper, when they were ushered into a large room, 
where there were at least 200 persons closely en- 
gaged at play ; and to his utter astonishment some 
of them were most respectable merchants. He re- 
ceived a warning to keep his tongue quiet on 
what he saw there. 

It cannot be denieds but that the system of lot- 
teries is carried on to great extent; perhaps the 
legislature has wisely allowed of this, so far to in- 
dulge the gambling propensities of the citizens. 
Churches, and other buildhigs have been reared on 
this foundation. There is, however, occasionally 
much roguery committed in this line, by the lot- 
tery contractors, who of course dispose of their 
tickets as quick as possible, protract the day of 
drawing to the latest, and become bankrupt before 
a prize is drawn ; or in the event that a prize does 
come up before such a circumstance occurs, it is 
generally managed that the lottery managers are 
the ow;ners thereof. 

The Americans have been taxed with intemper- 
ance in drinking. The quantity of spirituous 
liquors consumed is much more than what is done 
by an equal number of people in Britain. In sum- 
mer, the excessive heat causes a very copious per- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 67 

spiration, which must be counteracted by some 
means or other. The incautious use of simple cold 
water having often produced very fatal effects ; — it 
must therefore be mixed with some spirit to pre- 
vent these effects. Ale and beer, although consumed 
in great quantities, are said to create bile in hat 
weather. The faculty during the prevalence of 
the yellow fever in New York in 1822, actually 
recommended brandy and water as the safest be- 
verage for their fellow- citizens ; and Heaven knows, 
they stood in little need of the hint. The constant 
use of grog has rendered the Americans in a great 
measure less liable to suffer from the effects of 
strong liquors than might be expected, — they are 
in a certain degree seasoned^ and consequently it 
is by no means common to see an American very 
much intoxicated. Boys acquire the habit of 
drinking much earlier than they usually do in 
Europe ; this arises partly from the aforesaid ne- 
cessary causes, and partly from the free use of 
tobacco, especially smoking which is a great pro- 
voker of thirst. It is no uncommon thing to see a 
boy of 12 or 14 (but dressed like a grown-up man) 
with a segar in his mouth, walking "right" into a 
tavern in the forenoon, and taking a glass of brandy 
and bitters with great deliberation. As breakfast 
is over early in summer, it is the general practice 



68 SIX years' residence 

to take some refreshment about noon. It would 
conduce little to the credit of a man of business in 
Scotland, to exhibit the effluvia of spirits before 
dinner; but in America it is taken no notice of, the 
practice being pretty general, but not absolutely 
universal. There are many who take nothing but 
water from one year's end till the other. On the 
other hand, I have known a very worthy merchant 
(originally from Scotland by the bye,) who lived 
many years in New York, and being on a visit to 
one of the southern States, was asked what kind of 
water they had in New York ? He paused for a 
moment, and then candidly replied, " Really, upon 
my soul, I cannot pretend to decide, as I never to 
my recollection tasted water in New York un- 
mixed." I have been informed that about thirty 
years ago, it was the general custom to have spirits 
and water in every counting room or store ; — if 
such was the case, the custom is now nearly out. 

The Americans seem to have little idea of so- 
ciality in their drinking. When a person goes into 
a tavern with a friend or two, instead of having a 
snug place where they may settle a little business, 
or have a " crack," over their liquor, they must 
walk up to the bar, and swallow their glass with 
all possible despatch, to make room for new 
comers. The usual price for a glass of spirits is 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 69 

6j cents, (3J). The consumer pours a lesser or 
greater quantity of the liquor into a tumbler at his 
option. It is seldom drank undiluted with water ; 
and in hot weather the tavern keepers always 
have a piece of ice floating in the water pitcher. 
I have seen a book of travels in America, by a 
Scotish gentleman, who roundly states that "spirits 
and water is the usual drink of both sexes, in 
America, in summer." Now this is rather a misre- 
presentation of the matter. I have spent about 
six years in various States of America, and can- 
not bring to my recollection a solitary instance 
of having seen a female of any station drinking 
grog. I have seen one or two who got credit for 
occasionally sacrificing to Bacchus, but the}?^ did 
so unseen by the public. Females in America 
usually quench their thirst by cyder, small beer, 
wine and water, and perhaps now and then a small 
glass of cordial, of which there are many varie- 
ties, under the title of " Perfect Love," " Life of 
Man," &c. but much more generally by pure wa- 
ter. It is certainly rather ungenerous to accuse 
the fair sex in America of grog-drinking. 

Strong lixjuors of every description are very 
cheap in America : 

Brandy is from l^ dollar (5s. 8d.) to 2 dollars C9s.) per gallon. 
Holland gin, ditto ditto. 

Jamaica rum, 1 dollar (4s. 6d.) to 1^ dollar (5s. 8d.) ditto. 



70 SIX years' residence 

New England rum, 1 33 cents (Is. 6d.) to 50 cents (2s. 3d.) 

Ditto whisky, ) per ditto. 
Madeira wine from 12 to 18 dollars per dozen. 
Claret 3 to 15 

The American rum and whisky is distilled from 
rye, Indian corn, or sometimes apples : it is 
strong, but generally harsh in the flavour. It is 
much used by labourers ; and from the very low 
price at which it can be obtained, it may be infer- 
red, that an ordinary man may get a skinfull for 
sixpence. 

Upon an occasion of a family removing from one 
part of the city (New York) to another, I saw an 
instance of what, in some countries, might be call- 
ed great sobriety, or self-denial. The lady of 
the house invited one of the draymen, a robust, 
healthy-looking Vermontese, to help himself to 
some spirits : the man, making a low bow, replied, 
" No : I thank you, madam ; I never drink in the 
forenoon." It is more than problematical, if a 
Glasgow carter would have acted in a similar man- 
ner, upon Q. flitting occasion. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 71 



CHAPTER V. 

LEARXrS'G OF CLERGYMEN, &C. — ENCOUEAGEilENT FOR CLERKS, &C. 
NEW YORK LAWYERS AND PHYSICTANS— AUTHOaS — PBINTING— 
NEWSPAPERS IDEAS OF AMERICANS REGARDING BRITAIN — WEL- 
LINGTON COMPARED TO JACKSON, &C. 

Learning is cultivated in America, just in pro- 
portion as it conduces to the amusement or profit 
of its pursuers, and not for the sake of its confer- 
ring a power and dignity on its possessor, enno- 
bling and elevating him above the common herd 
who dwell in contented ignorance. The great 
body of the Americans are brought up in the pur- 
suit of gain ; and a knowledge of plain English, 
writing and accounts, is all that is acquired, or 
sought after by ninety-nine out of an hundred, even 
in the higher walks of life. A thorough know- 
ledge of dollars and cents is deemed sufficient for 
every purpose of common life; and Hebrew, 
Greek, and Latin, are left to be cultivated by those 
few who propose to gain a livelihood by some 
learned profession ; — and even for such, a very pro- 
found acquaintance with those languages is hardly 



72 SIX years' residence 

deemed indispensable. There are many clergy- 
men who neither know the one nor the other. 
Some years ago I happened to be in company with 
a minister, who was very popular in a large city in 
the south. It was one evening after he had 
preached. In the course of conversation, a person 
took occasion to compliment the reverend gentle- 
man on the pleasure he must derive from reading 
the scriptures in the original. The clergyman 
seemed a little embarrassed, but ingenuously re- 
plied, that he was totally ignorant of both Hebrew 
and Greek. This exhibited the reverend gentle- 
man's character in a very amiable light, but ex- 
posed, in a no less obvious view, the nakedness 
of the land. There are, however, some very 
learned men in America, who would shine in any 
country. A worthy clergyman of the Episco- 
pal church, once expressed himself to me thus : 
« There is little encouragement for learning in 
America; we have no high reward or emolument 
held out to us as you have in Britain ; had we any 
good fat bishopricks of an hundred thousand dol- 
lars, held out as the reward of talents and appli- 
cation, you would see many a bright luminary 
blazing in the atmosphere of America." 

A clergyman in New York, who belonged to the 
Secession Church, informed me, that when he ar- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. T3 

rived in America, he had not exactly determined 
upon what line of life he meant to pursue. Being 
a good Hebrew scholar, shortly after his arrival, 
he was offered the professorship of Hebrew in 
the college of Princetown, New Jersey, with a sa- 
lary of 1200 dollars per annum, and free lodgings. 
His inclination, however, induced him to accept 
of a call from the congregation of Seceders in New 
York, with a stipend of a thousand dollars, which 
was afterw^ards raised to twelve hundred and fifty. 

As another instance that any kind of learn- 
ing properly applied, can be turned to good ac- 
count in America, I may mention the case of a 
young Irishman, who, in his native country, was 
under-clerk to a flour miller. He arrived in 
Charleston, and went about two hundred miles up 
the country, where he commenced teaching, — and 
in the course of a year or so, his income was as 
good as six hundred dollars per annum : his ac- 
quirements may be guessed at. 

America presents but a barren field for young 
men who go out as clerks. The country is over- 
stocked with them ; and there is no concealing the 
matter, that the generality of young Americans are 
much better initiated in the ways of business than 
Europeans of like age, and are commonly excel- 
lent penmen and accountants. Young men from 



T4 SIX years' residence 

Scotland are occasionally preferred to natives, on 
account of their supposed more orderly habits : 
but this cannot be greatly counted upon. 

There are some very clever and experienced 
lawyers in New York, Philadelphia, and some 
other large cities, with whom men may safely trust 
their property, but these are " few, and far be- 
tween :" the first named cities are positively over- 
run with attorneys, councillors, barristers, &c. &c. 
these titles being indiscriminately adopted by men 
who know as much of Coke upon Littleton, as 
they do of Homer. A number of them consist of 
ruined traders, who have procured a few law^ 
books, and are willing to learn a few of the most 
common-place law phrases and customs annexed 
to the profession. There are but too many of 
them ready at all times to go through any job, 
however mean or dirty, for the recompense of a 
ten dollar bill. There cannot be less than seven 
hundred of this tribe in New York alone. Mr 
Emmett, well known as a leading personage in the 
Irish rebellion, stands high in New York as a 
lawyer and a gentleman. 

Regarding the physicians of New York, some 
of them have been long known in Europe as men 
of deep knowledge in their profession ; as men who 
have cultivated the sciences from a pure love of 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 75 

knowledge, and as a mean of enabling them to be of 
benefit to their fellow creatures. There are seve- 
ral whose practice averages from twenty to thirty 
thousand dollars per annum. There are, however, 
a great many who meet with, and indeed merit, 
but slender encouragement. I have been informed 
by an American physician, that, during the war 
with Britain, when there was a great demand for 
surgeons, a number of young men, who had not 
studied above six months, were admitted to prac- 
tice : their qualifications, therefore, could not be 
great. The ignorance of some doctors, on sub- 
jects known to people of any education at all in 
Britain, is surprising. I have heard a New York 
physician of considerable practice, display his 
knowledge of geography, by talking of " Turkey 
in China." 

It is well known, that America has produced but 
few authors, in proportion to the encouragement 
that writers of acuteness and intelligence would 
meet with. The fact is, that, like Mrs M'Clarty, 
they " canna be fash'd," so long as they receive all 
the learning and knowledge of Europe, " cut and 
dry." That writers of merit meet with due en- 
couragement, is clearly shown, by the success of 
Mr Irving and Mr Cooper's works ; and it is a 
fact well known, that Noah Webster received 
G 2 



76 SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 

forty thousand dollars (£9000) for the copyright of 
Ills spelling-book, which sells at lOd. The last 
named gentleman has been for many years past 
engaged in compiling an English pronouncing dic- 
tionary, which, it is said, will contain an explana- 
tion of nearly double the amount of words that are 
to be found in Mr Walker's. How would the 
shade of Johnson growl, on beholding a Yankee 
correcting and re-modelling the language of Old 
England ! 

European works of merit appear in America 
like magic. They are very expert at this kind of 
science, as it brings in the dollars readily. Seve- 
ral British magazines are reprinted here every 
month. Amongst the rest, Blackwood's has met 
with considerable patronage : it is printed on ex- 
cellent paper, and the typography is not inferior 
to the original. The price is 75 cents (3s. 44d.) 
Sir Walter Scott's works are much read, and some 
of his tales have been issued from the press within 
forty-eight hours after their arrival from Britain. 
Lord Byron too, and all the popular British writers, 
meet with a due share of admirers. The name of 
Chalmers is nearly as familiar in the mouths of in- 
telligent Americans, as amongst the inhabitants of 
Glasgow. Printing is executed very cheaply in 
America. Scott's novels, although the paper is 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 77 

somewhat coarse, generally sell at 62 to 75 cents 
(2s. lOd. to 3s. 4jd.) per volume. This economi- 
cal system of printing is of great benefit to the 
community in general, by enabling them to acquire 
knowledge at a low rate. From the immense num- 
ber of newspapers printed in America, the very 
poorest are supplied with the means of informa- 
tion, there being no tax on paper, nor duty on 
newspapers. The price is only l|d. sterling each. 
A well conducted paper, however, pays well, as 
advertisements (upon which there is no duty) are 
charged high. The very smallest charge in the 
large cities being 62^ cents (2s. lOd.) for the first 
insertion, and 25 cents (13id.)for each subsequent 
insertion of a few lines. There are no Sunday 
newspapers published. I have, however, observed 
the printers very busy at work on Sabbath even- 
ing, preparing, and throwing off the papers for 
Monday morning. In taking the enormous duty 
oif salt, the British government acted with great 
wisdom and humanity; but to retain the duty on 
newspapers, is virtually putting a tax on know- 
ledge. Every American, almost, can, and does 
read the papers : and the better sort peruse all 
new magazines and works of fiction with eager- 
ness; but as to what may be called deep reading, 
it is almost out of the question, except by a few 
G 3 



TB SIX years' residence 

who have much leisure. The translations of Ho- 
mer, Virgil, Horace, &c. are not much sought 
after ; and the bulk of the American people trou- 
ble themselves but little in acquiring even a sketch 
of history, mathematics, chemistry, or even geo- 
graphy. They are generally a little acquainted 
with the history of their own revolution, but look 
back little farther : and yet, with all this, they think 
themselves the only, if not the most enlightened 
people on the face of the earth. Nothing will 
content them, but everlastingly comparing them- 
selves to ancient Greece and Home, in their most 
enlightened days : nay, this is nothing ; they 
merely look upon these once celebrated Republics, 
as types or emblems of the grandeur, magnifi- 
cence, and learning, which is shortly to overspread 
their Western Republic ; and many of them can 
never separate the conclusion, but that Britain 
must sink in the scale of nations, both as to know- 
ledge and power, in the same ratio that America 
is to arise in splendour and dominion. But these 
petty enthusiasts (and there are not a few of them) 
forget the land from whence they have derived al- 
most every thing that is great and noble amongst 
them — the country, their descent from which has 
tended in no ordinary degree to elevate their cha- 
racter amongst the nations of Europe. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 79 

1 have met with few, very few, Americans, in- 
deed, who felt at all insulted at being mistaken for 
Englishmen, or of British descent. It is only the 
most ignorant and senseless amongst the Ameri- 
cans, who indulge in expressions of malice and ha- 
tred towards Britain ; or, in not a few cases, men 
who were forced to seek refuge in America, from 
evils which they had brought upon their own heads 
at home, by disaffection to their native govern- 
ment. It may be observed, with all due reverence 
for our brethren of the " Green Island," that few 
of her sons in America have much to say in favour 
of Britain. America was truly an asylum to many 
unfortunate, and not a few worthy personages, 
who were concerned in what were called the 
" Times" in 1798. Although a more kindly feel- 
ing towards Britain seems to be gaining ground 
of late, yet I must say, that I have more than once 
felt exceedingly awkward, by hearing topics 
brought forth, regarding politics, in the very 
house of God, which I could not but consider as 
very ill-timed, to say the least of it. I heard a 
minister in Charleston, some years ago, bring for- 
ward, in the middle of his sermon, a long story 
regarding a letter which was sent by the British 
to General Washington, but which he would not 
receive until properly addressed. I forget how he 



80 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

brought this to bear upon his text; at any rate, 
he repeatedly used the expression of " that blood- 
thirsty tyrant George the Third." I am much mis- 
taken if my pulse was not accelerated twency-five 
degrees at least, on hearing " Good old George" 
(who was alive then) belaboured at such a rate, on 
account of transactions which occurred fifty years 
ago. It is to be hoped, however, that time may 
obliterate these disagreeable matters, and that a 
more brotherly feeling will obtain betwixt the na- 
tives of Britain and America. 

The toast of the " Mother and the daughter 
against the world," thereby meaning Great Britain 
and America, has been given of late at public 
dinners in the United States, with great applause. 
The fact is, that the Americans do not forget the 
parental tenderness with which Britain cherished 
infant America ; neither are they willing to forget 
the haughty, and perhaps relentless manner, in 
which they were treated by Britain's monarch, 
when endeavouring to set up for themselves as free- 
men. They are sensible that they owe much to 
Britain ; but any thing like concession towards 
that country, is considered as encroaching on a 
tender point, namely, independence. 

Britain has got a great burthen off her hands, 
and she has no reason to be ashamed of her off- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 81 

spring. Such a turbulent child is better trading 
on her own bottom; and she has shown that she 
can take special good care of herself in a squabble. 
What power in Europe, excepting Britain, dare 
attack America ? And, to confess the honest truth, 
there was but little profit accruing to Britain in the 
late concern; besides, such a war is most impoli- 
tic, ruinous, and unnatural in both countries. I 
have heard candid and moderate Americans give 
it as their opinion, that the resources of Britain 
and America in conjunction, might bid defiance to 
the world in arms : and yet there are others who 
will admit of nothing favourable to Britain, and 
will not allow that she did any thing wonderful in 
her struggle with the continental powders for so 
many years. They will hardly ever admit that the 
British gained the battle of Waterloo; but ascribe 
that victory entirely to the Prussians. As for 
comparing Wellington to General Jackson, they 
turn up their nose at the very idea of it. Wel- 
lington and Bonaparte were mere ninnies to the 
glorious hero of New Orleans, according to their 
creed. 



82 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER VI. 

BROOKLYN — NAVY YARD — PUNISHMENT OF SOLDIERS — LARGE SHIPS 

— STEAM FRIGATE — IDEAS REGARDING FLEETS, &C PATERSON 

MANUFACTORIES AND FALLS — MAJOR ANDRE. 

Opposite the city of New York, across the East 
River, stands the pleasant and thriving town of 
Brooklyn. This place, which, at the end of the 
last century, was only a small village, now con- 
tains 12,000 inhabitants. Team boats are conti- 
nually plying betwixt the two places, generally 
crossing in six or eio^ht minutes. These boats are 
impelled by horses, which are harnessed to beams 
fixed across a circular walk, built on the top of 
two boats joined together, with an open space in 
the middle for the paddles to work in. The hor- 
ses continually endeavour to press forward without 
stirring out of the spot; but the floor or walk on 
which they stand, turns round in a horizontal di- 
rection, by the pressure of their feet: this gives an 
impulse to machinery which turns the paddles. 
These boats steer either end foremost, and car- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 83 

riages or horses are driven off or on the deck 
from a platform that can be raised or lowered at 
the landing-place, according as the tide is high or 
low. 

The navy yard is situated about a mile from 
Brooklyn ; several fine ships have been built in it, 
and the great steam-frigate which was built with 
the intention of annihilating the British navy, is 
laid up here. On my first visit to this place, in 
company with a New York friend, I had an op- 
portunity of seeing an exemplification of their dis- 
cipline in a small instance. My friend and I went 
in at the gate, where a sentinel was stationed, and 
had proceeded a few hundred yards on our way, 
when we heard some one calling after us ; upon 
turning round, we perceived a soldier with a bay- 
onet in his hand in full chase. He said, we must 
come before the commandant. I was, of course, 
a little disconcerted ; and said to my friend, 
" Now, this is the first time in my life I have been 
taken prisoner; I hope they wont shoot us for 
spies." Upon approaching the commandant (Ma- 
jor S.), with whom my friend was well acquainted, 
he said that a regulation had lately been made to 
prevent strangers from entering the yard. He 
then despatched a sergeant for the sentinel who 
guarded the entrance, and asked him why he had 



84 SIX years' residence 

suffered these gentlemen to pass. The man said 
he thought we had belonged to the yard, as our 
coat sleeve button was turned up. This excuse, 
however, would not satisfy the major ; who said, 
" Put that fellow instantly in double irons." We 
attempted to plead for the man, but the major 
said, " Oh never mind him ; we shan't keep him 
locked up over three or four days." I saw a num- 
ber of men in the yard wheeling barrows. They 
had a chain fastened to one leg, at the end of 
which a cannon ball was attached. I understood 
this to be a punishment instead of flogging. On 
leaving the Navy Yard, 1 observed to my friend, 
that the major was a furious looking citizen. " Oh 
yes ;" answered he, " Major S — is a very smart 
fellow : why, he got one of his whiskers shot off 
last year in a duel." I went on board the Ohio, 
a 74 gun ship, which was shortly before launched. 
She would certainly be a most formidable oppo- 
nent to a 74 of any other nation, as she mounts 
no less than 104 heavy guns. Her extreme length 
is 217 feet, and she is very strongly put together, 
the ribs being quite close to each other, and the 
planking excessively thick. The officers on board 
were very polite, and seemed quite proud of dis- 
playing the formidable qualities of their ship. 
One of them asked my opinion of her; observing, 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 85 

that surely no ball could pierce her. I replied, 
that I was no judge of these matters; but that I 
had heard of such things as a cannon ball going 
through both sides of a British ship of the line. 
There was a frigate on the stocks at this time, to 
carry 64 guns, rated a 44. The reason of this in- 
consistency it may not be easy to determine. The 
Americans build their men-of-war completely un- 
der cover; a wooden building being erected over 
them. At Philadelphia, there is at present a ship 
building, which is to mount 150 guns, but it would 
be much wiser in the American government 
to build as many frigates as possible. In the 
meantime, experience may show them, that their 
best policy will consist in capturing merchant ves- 
sels, not in fighting pitched battles. The steam- 
frigate which lies here, possesses formidable qua- 
lities, both of defence and offence ; at least the 
Americans hold it so. She is a double vessel, hav- 
ing the paddles in the centre: the sides are five 
feet thick of solid timber, and she is furnished with 
thirty 32 pounders, — and it was intended to have 
four 100 pounder Columbiads suspended at her 
bows, which were calculated to throw balls of that 
weight into the enemy's ships, ten or twelve feet be- 
low water mark ! but the principal means of annoy- 
ing the enemy, was to consist in overwhelming their 



86 SIX years' residence 

men and ammunition with immense quantities of 
boiling hot water, — a vast quantity also of long 
boarding pikes were to be thrust out on each side, 
at every stroke of the engine.* The very idea of 
scalding poor Johnny Bull to death, is perfectly 
ludicrous: old Hannibal's plan of the serpents, 
would be quite as business like. It cannot be de- 
nied, but that the Americans, during the late war 
with Britain, performed wonders with their little 
fleet : but what opposition did they encounter from 
Britain? Literally none. Any vessels sent out 
on that station were not half manned. The Ad- 
miralty seemed to think they had to deal with 
boys ; but generally found the American ships 
crowded with picked men — many of them British 
subjects, who, it might naturally be expected, 
would fight in mere desperation. The Americans 
were so successful in capturing merchant vessels, 
and a few men of war, that they actually consi- 
dered themselves masters of the ocean ; nor will 
they yet allow that a British ship of equal size is 
any match for an American. The loss of their 
frigate, the Chesapeake, they attribute entirely to 

* This vessel was unfortunately blown up by accident in 
June 1829, when upwards of 20 people were killed, and a 
considerable number wounded. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. ST 

the badness of their gunpowder ! and they avow 
that their ship, the President, surrendered only to 
a British fleet I happened once to be in company 
with the captain of an American merchantman, a 
jolly candid tar, who was sailing master on board 
the President at the tune of her capture by the 
British. In the chase, they threw some of their 
guns overboard, and then staved all the water 
butts, the contents of which they pumped out : fi- 
nally, they staved fifty casks of Madeira wine ; 
which order was put in execution much against 
the grain of their stomach, as he confessed. The 
discipline on board American men-of-war is ex- 
ceedingly rigorous. It is well known that the men 
are in general good sailors, and by no means cow- 
ardly. They are much more likely, therefore, to 
become rivals to Britain, in the event of a war, 
than any other nation ; but a long time must elapse, 
before America can build or support a fleet any 
thing like that of Britain; and how they are to 
raise men enough to man a fleet of any respecta- 
ble size, is problematical. Comparatively few of 
the states have an opportunity of training up sea- 
men. You will hardly find a native of the South- 
ern Atlantic States take to the sea ; and it cannot 
be expected that men will leave the banks of the 
Mississippi, or Ohio, to learn the art of seamanship. 
H 2 



88 SIX years' residence 

The American navy at present (1829) consists 
of 12 ships of the line, 17 frigates, 16 sloops, 7 
schooners, and a number of gun-boats. The num- 
ber of seamen and marines is about 6,500. A 
ship of 180 guns, mostly 90 pounders, is now 
talked of at Philadelphia. This may serve to cut 
a dash, and indulge the vain feelings of the Ame- 
ricans, but novir that such wonderful advancement 
has been made, in the application of steam to na- 
vigation, may not a complete new system of naval 
warfare be adopted in case of hostilities, and the 
huge and formidable ships of war of the old school, 
be totally unfit for effectually operating in the new 
system? 

The town of Paterson, in New Jersey, about 
twenty miles from New York, has been much talked 
of for manufactures ; but this is only comparative- 
ly speaking. No doubt, the manufactures carried 
on there are extensive, considering that cotton- 
spinning is merely in its infancy in America. The 
whole of the spindles in all the manufactories at 
Paterson, are not equal to half the number of 
spindles in one single mill at Manchester ; but if 
the increase continues at the same rate it has done 
for twenty years past, Paterson may become a rival 
even to the former place. Various qualities of 
coarse goods can be made much cheaper in Ame- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 89 

rica than they can be imported from Britain, — the 
duties on low priced goods amounting, in fact, to 
a prohibition. By the new Tariff, the duty on 
raw cotton yarn, of whatever No., cost, or quality, 
is about lid. per lb. It is only in the coarser 
kind of goods that the Americans have succeeded ; 
and the climate seems to be a bar in the way of at- 
tempting to make any thing fine, such as book mus- 
lin. Several kinds of Sea-Island shirting are made 
in New England; which, owing to the quality of the 
yarn, almost feel like silk. Some very handsome 
prints are also made in that quarter. 

The town of Paterson lies rather low, and near- 
ly surrounded by hills; the consequence of which 
is, that in the fall of the year, the inhabitants are 
very subject to intermittent fevers; seldom, how- 
ever, attended with fatal effects. The falls on the 
river Passaic, above the town, are a great natural 
curiosity. The river, which is about thirty or forty 
yards wide, tumbles in one fall over a rock about 
seventy feet into a ravine; on each side of which, the 
rocks rise nearly perpendicular, sloping gradually 
to a considerable distance below the fall. On the 
left bank, close to the ravine, there are several 
fissures in the rock about two or three feet across, 
and of a great depth. A few years ago, a most la- 
mentable occurrence took place here: A clergy - 
H 3 



90 SIX years' residence 

man of New York being on a visit of pleasure to 
these falls, in company with his wife (to whom he 
had been married only three weeks previously) 
and some friends; the lady, it would appear, 
had most unfortunately slipt into one of these fis- 
sures, and was killed. A considerable time elapsed 
before her body could be recovered ; and all the 
sympathy which the bereaved husband experienced 
from a cold hearted and unfeeling world, consisted 
in his being indirectly accused of having assisted 
his unfortunate rib to a better world. 

About twenty-five miles from New York, near 
Tappan, the traveller is generally shown the spot (the 
very tree, if I recollect right) where the gallant and 
accomplished Major Andre was executed about fifty 
years ago. This unfortunate gentleman's case ex- 
cited the most tender sympathies, even of those 
who were under the stern necessity of condemn- 
ing him. The court-martial held upon him lasted 
for an unusual length of time. General Washing- 
ton shed tears on signing the death warrant for his 
execution. The unfortunate man met his fate 
with composure ; but earnestly begged to die the 
death of a gentleman. This, according to the 
rules of military etiquette, could not be granted, 
as he was convicted of being a spy, and hung ac- 
cordingly. The major had negotiated with the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 91 

American General Arnold, for the delivery of 
West Point (an important fortress on the Hudson) 
into the hands of the British, and was on his re- 
turn to head quarters when captured. The me- 
mory of this Arnold, who was termed the trai- 
tor, has ever been held in execration. It was not 
many miles from New York where Andre was ar- 
rested. His captors were three raw militia men, 
who had been straggling about. The gentlemanly 
appearance of the major (although in disguise) at- 
tracted their attention ; and as he could not give 
a satisfactory account of himself to these fellows, 
they insisted on detaining him. His arguments 
were of no avail ; and he then tried what effect 
gold would have upon these, at that period, poor, 
starving ragged Republicans, offering them a va- 
luable watch and a heavy purse of gold. Although 
the temptation was strong, these poor militia men 
scorned to accept of a bribe, and nobly preferred 
the good of their country to their own private be- 
nefit. They were afterwards rewarded with the 
approbation of their countrymen, and were speed- 
ily promoted. The despatches which convicted 
poor Andre were found in his boots. Had the 
major, at the time these men came up to him, had 
the least idea of the hard fate which awaited him, 
he could easily have despatched at least two of 



92 SIX years' residence 

them with his pistols ere they could have touched 
him; but he was a man alike remarkable for hu- 
manity and bravery. Two American officers of 
rank accompanied him, arm in arm, to the scaf- 
fold. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 93 



CHAPTER VII. 

NORTH RIVER SCENERY — NEWBURG — WEST POINT — ALBANY — CAPI- 
TAL, &C. — TROY — COHOES — BENNINGTON — ROAD THROUGH VER- 
MONT — CONNECTICUT RIVER — PRICE OF FARMS, CATTLE, &C. — 
CONDITION OF SETTLERS — MAPLE SUGAR — STORE-KEEPERS — 
FARM-SERVANTS— FELLING OF TREES, &C. — FENCES— CLIMATE — 
RAFTING TIMBER — FARM-HOUSES — WILD HONEY — CATAilOUNT — 
BEARS, &C EDUCATION— CLERGYMEN. 

In the fall of 1823, accompanied by part of my 
family, I made an excursion to the state of Ver- 
mont, for the purpose of visiting some Stirlingshire 
relatives who had settled in that quarter several 
years ago. The land part of the journey, a dis- 
tance of about 200 miles, was very fatiguing; but 
we were amply repaid by having an opportunity 
of observing the actual state of the emigrants in 
a part of the country bordering upon Canada. 

After leaving New York in the steam boat, the 
view, on both sides the river Hudson, is really 
beautiful, in many places sublime. A few miles 
above New York, the left bank of the river rises 
abruptly from the water's edge, in some places to 



94 si'x years' residence 

the height of five hundred feet, the face of this pre- 
cipice, presenting in various places, huge basaltic 
pillars, not unlike the Giants Causeway on the north 
coast of Ireland, but not so regular ; at one place 
they are called the " Pallisades." The river is about 
one mile and a half broad at New York, twenty 
miles above which it expands into a bay called 
Tappan sea, about five miles broad and nearly 
twenty in length. The scenery here is very fine, es- 
pecially on the west side ; the ground, rising gently 
from the shore, is well cleared and cultivated, and 
being studded with villages and farm houses, pre- 
sents a pleasing picture of civilization and plenty. 
The view farther up is bounded on the west by 
the Katskill mountains, which are lofty and grand, 
the highest points of them being nearly 4000 feet 
above the sea level ; even these are clothed with 
lofty trees. This forms a striking feature in 
American scenery, in comparison to the bleak and 
naked hills of Scotland. On the top of one of the 
highest of these hills, a house of entertainment has 
lately been built ; and in the summer season, it is 
no uncommon thing to have a grand ball in this 
remote situation, where seventy or eighty of the 
New York belles and beaux have an opportunity 
of displaying their fashionable attainments in the 
mystery of dancing, at a season when the heat of 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 95 

the climate debars them from enjoying.their favour- 
ite amusement in the city. The situation of this 
house, called Pine Orchard, is most romantic, 
being twelve miles from the river side, and several 
miles from any human habitation. It was no easy 
matter to make a road up this hill, to such a 
height. The view from the top is very extensive. 
One side of the mountain is very steep, and several 
water-falls tumble from rock to rock, nearly the 
whole height of the mountain. Several species of 
wild beasts are to be found here. The bear, and the 
catamount (a species of panther, or tiger, ) are no 
strangers to this quarter ; and the eagle and other 
birds of prey have their habitation in this wild re- 
gion. 

On the left bank of the river, about sixty miles 
above New York, the handsome and thriving 
town of Newburg is situated. It contains about 
5,000 inhabitants, and is mostly built of brick in an 
elegant style. It is famed for brewing of ale. 
About twelve miles nearer to New York, is West 
Point, which was considered a very important 
fortress during the revolutionary war. There is 
now a military academy here, on an extensive scale. 
It requires considerable interest to get boys admit- 
ted here ; they receive a suitable education, and are 
strictly disciplined ; many of them who have been 



96 SIX years' residence 

brought up in this place have proved no disgrace 
to their profession. They are obliged to rise very 
early, clean their own rooms, arms, accoutrements, 
&c. They are allowed about 18 dollars per month, 
for clothing, books, and other articles. Near this 
place, the left bank of the river rises abruptly to 
the height of 940 feet, and the water is so deep 
here, that steam boats pass within thirty feet of the 
shore. The whole scenery is certainly imposing. 
On the west bank of the Hudson, you pass " Glas- 
gow," a small place, containing about a dozen 
houses, and there is sometimes a sloop or two to 
be seen at the landing place. Nearer Albany you 
pass Poughkeepsie, a handsome town, the resort 
of many strangers in summer ; and further on, 
Hudson, and several smaller towns. Albany looks 
very handsome, as you approach it ; it is situated 
on a declivity of the left bank, and appears not un- 
like my native town in miniature. The streets are 
kept neat and clean, and it is adorned with several 
elegant churches. The capitol is a substantial 
looking building, situated at the highest part of 
the town. The view from the cupola is delightful ; 
the magnificent Hudson may be traced for at least 
thirty miles. In this building there is an exten- 
sive library. I saw some very old books here. The 
population of Albany has increased much of late ; 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 97 

it is now about 18,000. The principal manufac- 
ture is ale, which is sent all over the States, and is 
greatly admired : in dry goods, an immense busi- 
ness is done. The cities of Troy, and Lansing- 
burg, are situated about seven miles farther up the 
river ; they are both handsome and clean looking 
places. About ten miles from Albany, the 
" Cohoes," a fall of water on the river Mohawk, (a 
branch of the Hudson,) is well worth visiting. 
The river is at this place nearly 1000 feet in 
breadth, and the height of the fall is about forty 
feet. From a bridge, which crosses the river, 
about a mile below the falls, the view is enchant- 
ing. These falls would be much more taken no- 
tice of, were it not from the circumstance of their 
being in the same state as the falls of Niagara, 
which eclipse every thing of this description, and 
attract the chief attention of travellers. 

About thirty miles north of Albany, the towns 
of Saratoga, and Ballstown, are situated a few miles 
from each other, in rather a barren country, but 
on account of their famous mineral waters, are 
much resorted to in summer, there are occasionally 
1200 to 1400 strangers at the former place, at one 
time. It seems to be the Bath of America. Many 
people who are in perfect health, resort here, 
merely for good company and coolness, as the 



98 SIX years' residence 

country around is any thing but enticing. Sarato- 
ga, it will be remembered, is the place where the 
British general Burgoyne was under the disagree- 
able necessity of surrendering with his army to 
the Republicans, in 1777. 

Forty miles north east from Albany, you arrive 
through a rough, but pretty well cultivated coun- 
try, at Bennington, a handsome little town, where 
a part of general Burgo^'Ue's army was defeated in 
1777, and 700 prisoners taken. After this you 
begin to ascend what are called the green moun- 
tains. The road here winds up these hills for about 
five miles, and the male part of the passengers 
are generally requested to come out of the stage, 
and walk this distance, the road being very rough 
and steep. The highest part of the road is nearly 
3000 feet above the level of the sea, and the view 
from this spot is inexpressibly grand, especially to 
the north and south — many towns and villages, and 
cleared spots, appearing like specks amidst an 
ocean of forests. Even in what are termed well- 
cleared districts of America, the prominent feature 
is trees. About thirty six miles from Bennington, 
you arrive at Brattleborough, a clean, lively town. 
Proceeding northwards along the banks of the 
Connecticut river about one hundred miles, you 
pass through the beautiful towns of Walpole, 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 99 

Windsor, Hanover, where there is a flourishing 
college, and Haverhill, all handsome and thriving 
places, which have arisen within a short period in 
the midst of a wilderness. Where formerly the 
woodman's axe was unheard, and the red sons of 
the forest held undisputed sway, now cultivated 
fields and populous towns usurp the site of the In- 
dian hunting grounds ; and the growling of wild 
beasts, or the war-whoop and yell of the savage, has 
given place to the solemn peals of the organ, and 
the sweet sounds of thanksgiving and peace. 
True it is, that the native " lords of the soil," one 
and all of them, have been, either by fair or foul 
means, driven back farther and farther, and forced 
to seek a home in the wilderness ; and as settle- 
ments are extended by the white men, so must the 
Indians progressively move on to the west, until 
they are stopped by the waters of the great Pacific 
Ocean. To do the American government justice, 
they have done much to civilize and instruct this 
unfortunate race in the arts of peace, and encour- 
aged them to form settlements, and build regular 
houses. It seems however to be against the nature 
of the Indians, to be tied down to the habits and 
usages of civilized life, and it is doubtful if much 
can be done in this way. One thing is certain, that 
they are daily decreasing in numbers, and it may 
I 2 



100 



be a rare thing to find one true aboriginal of 
America, in the course of two centuries. The 
white men, beyond all controversy, have in a great 
measure usurped their dominions ; any lands that 
were fairly purchased, and paid for to the Indians, 
being quite a bagatelle ; rum and roguery have had 
a competent share, in any bargain with these sim- 
ple souls. Yet the Americans vindicate their 
conduct with some degree of plausibility. " Provi- 
dence," say they, " never meant that such an ex- 
tensive country, rich in all the productions of 
nature, should be appropriated merely as the 
hunting ground of a few naked savages ; if they will 
not cultivate the gifts which nature has so freely 
bestowed on the country, let us not look idly on." 
Perhaps, *« much may be said on both sides." 

The banks of the Connecticut present many 
scenes of rich cultivation, and some of the low 
grounds near Brattleborough, (about 150 miles 
above the junction of the river with the ocean,) 
are valued at a very high rate. 1 saw several 
fields which could not be purchased for less than 
120 to 140 dollars, £27 to ^31 10s. per acre, an 
immense price in this country. Not more than a 
hundred miles farther up this river, uncleared land 
may be had at from five to ten dollars per acre. To 
give a better idea of farms in this quarter, I may state 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 101 

that about ten miles from Haverhill, (a handsome 
town, containing two churches, a bank, post-office, 
&c., and about 1200 inhabitants,) I was offered a 
farm on the Vermont side of the river, containing 
about one hundred and sixty acres, seventy where- 
of were completely cleared, free of stumps and every 
impediment. It was bounded by the river, which 
was navigable for boats and rafts at the proper 
seasons, and extended from thence more than half 
a mile towards the higher grounds, sloping gently. 
The soil was adapted for wheat, oats, Indian corn, 
potatoes, and clover, crops of which weretlien grow- 
ing. There were on the premises a two-story frame 
dwelling house, with nine windows in front ; two 
large barns, and a small log house, all of which could 
be put in good condition for a trifle. The land 
which was uncleared, was covered with large tim- 
ber, chiefly pine, hemlock, sugar maple, and oak; 
the ground in many places was covered with rich 
natural clover, which at that season (September,) 
was about eighteen inches in height. The public 
road passed through the grounds, which were chiefly 
fenced with rails : a pretty large stream of clear 
water, with a considerable descent, entered at the 
upper end of the land, and after watering several 
fields, emptied itself into the river. The whole of 
this property could have been got for (^270,) 
I 3 



102 SIX years' residence 

twelve hundred dollars ; the taxes would amount to 
about six dollars (27s.) annually. Ready money is 
a great temptation to many of the inhabitants who 
are accustomed to clear land ; as they merely move 
to a piece of wild land, and commence clearing anew. 
There are instances of some who have removed in 
this manner, five or six times, during a life time. 
A farm in this State can be stocked at a very low 
rate for cash ; a good working horse costs from 40 
to 50 dollars, (£9, to ^11 5s.) good milch cows 
are from 12 to 16 dollars, {£2 14s. to ^3 12s.) 

An immense number of cattle are reared chiefly 
for the Boston market. I saw a great number of 
people from Scotland in this place, who all seemed 
delighted with their situation. I asked a good 
lady from Stirlingshire how she liked America the 
first year or two ; she answered, that she felt 
" unco wae" the first winter or so ; but she would 
not now exchange her situation for her old farm 
in Scotland on any account. " Ye see," continued 
she, " the grun' is a' our ain ; and we have every 
thing we can think on. It wad be a lang time 
before we could mak' sugar out o' our ain trees at 
the Glins." 

Indeed, to say the truth, the farmers generally 
live as well as gentlemen farmers can do in Scot- 
land, never sitting down to breakfast without tea 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 103 

or coffee, and a profusion of substantial articles. 
They have every convenience of life almost on 
their own grounds ; such as beef, mutton, pork, 
fowls, &c. Every farmer, almost, makes sufficient 
sugar for his own use; and I saw one person ori- 
ginally from Paisley, who makes upwards of twen- 
ty cwt. annually for sale. The process of sugar 
making is very simple. A hole is bored in the 
tree (maple) a few feet from the ground, by an 
inch, or 1^ inch auger, into which a little spout of 
wood or bark is introduced, and a bucket placed 
beneath to receive the juice. This is boiled down 
until of the requisite consistence. The sugar thus 
made, is little inferior to West India; it is a little 
coarser, perhaps, and has a stronger smell (by no 
means disagreeable, however.) It is somewhat 
like New Orleans sugar, and answers extremely 
well for coffee. It takes about thirty lbs. of maple 
juice to produce a pound of sugar; about six lbs. 
of the West Indian cane juice gives the like re- 
sult. 

The farmers here make a good deal of butter 
and cheese ; and after the frost sets in, they kill 
their hogs, which being cleaned and exposed to 
the air until they are hard frozen, are then gene- 
rally taken to Boston, and disposed of, and arti- 
cles of iron, salt, clothing, &c. brought back. 



104 SIX years' residence 

These journeys are made in sledges, which run 
along the surface of the snow with great speed. 
The farmers can always, if they choose, dispose of 
their produce to the country stores; but in that 
case, there is but little cash to be got. The chief 
business is done in the country by barter. The 
farmer generally runs a yearly account with some 
store-keeper, who supplies him with any article he 
may stand in need of, and takes grain and other 
produce in exchange. Store goods taken in this 
way by the farmers, are generally charged high. 

Where store-keepers have the command of a 
tolerably good capital, they succeed very well. 
They must, however, have it in their power to lay 
in a large stock. Even in small country villages, 
you may see stores with a stock of goods worth 
15,000 to 20,000 dollars. 

I have heard individuals in this, as well as in 
other parts of America, exclaim in a peevish and 
indignant tone, " This is a poor country ; there is 
no money in it ; there is hardly a dollar to be seen 
once in half a year.'' This was partly true ; but 
in a young country like this, where so much is 
done in the way of barter, the poverty or riches 
of the people can hardly be estimated from the 
comparative scarcity of silver, or bank notes. 
Suppose that a farmer is in want of a few pounds 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 105 

of tea or coffee for his family, or of a coat to his 
back, he puts a quantity of grain or other produce 
of his farm into his waggon, and sets out for the 
nearest village, where he readily finds a store- 
keeper, who takes his produce at a certain fixed 
price. What difference, let it be asked, can it 
possibly make to this farmer, whether the store- 
keeper hands him a kw pieces of paper, or coin- 
age, across the counter, which he may return to 
him in a few minutes afterwards for the commo- 
dity he is in want of; or he at once places the 
same before his face, without the ceremony of 
placing the circulating medium in his hands, 
merely for the purpose of receiving it back before 
the farmer leaves the store ? It may, perhaps, be 
answered, that the farmer feels himself more inde- 
pendent with the money in his pocket, and might 
make a more advantageous bargain by purchasing 
for cash at another store; but here it must be ob- 
served, that as he receives a considerably higher 
price for his produce on the principle of barter, 
and as trade surely ought, in most cases, to be 
conducted on principles of reciprocal good will, he 
will find, in the long run, his advantage in dealing 
with the storekeeper who takes his produce off his 
hands. But it may still farther be objected, " is 
the farmer to remain without even a few dollars of 



106 SIX years' residence 

pocket money ?" By no means ; for all the pocket 
money that he may require, an accommodation can 
readily be made with the store-keeper, by dispos- 
ing of some small part of his produce for cash. 
Let any man cast his eyes upon an American far- 
mer's table, or upon his dress, and talk of the po- 
verty and misery of the country: such remarks 
would be as unfelt by the contented and comforta- 
bly situated farmer, as they would be ridiculous 
and absurd in the estimation of every candid ob- 
server. It would seem, however, as if nature had 
so moulded the dispositions of some men, that even 
whilst enjoying all the necessaries and comforts of 
life, their senses of sight and hearing should be 
gratified with the glittering and the tinkling of 
dollars and doubloons. 

A good farm servant in Vermont, receives from 
100 to 120 dollars (£22 10s. to £27) per annum ; 
generally the one half payable in grain. He is 
well treated, and fares as well as his employer. 
The most laborious work in the country is the 
clearing of land. The native Americans are excel- 
lent hands at the axe ; and it is amazing to see with 
what dexterity a stranger soon learns to cut down 
timber. A good wood-cutter will bring down a 
tree of three feet diameter in a couple of hours. 
1 was totally unacquainted with handhng such 



IN THE UNITED STATES. lOT 

a tool as the axe ; but for experiment sake, have 
tried my hand at it for an hour or two. I cut 
down a hemlock tree which is considered a very 
stubborn wood, of twenty inches diameter, in ex- 
actly three quarters of an hour ; and 1 was assured, 
that in winter during frost, the half of the labour 
would have been sufficient, as every stroke of the 
axe would bring off much larger chips in frosty 
weather. The largest timber grows on the 
best land. The trees, when felled, are cut into 
lengths of about twenty feet, and piled up to the 
height of ten or twelve feet, and set fire to as soon 
as they will burn readily. The ashes form excellent 
manure ; and even the very first year of clearing, 
the land produces excellent crops of wheat, &c. 
It must be confessed, however, that such fields 
have a most outlandish appearance, being com- 
pletely studded with black stumps of three or four 
feet in height. After a few years, these roots are 
easily drawn out by means of a chain and a pair 
of oxen. These stumps being laid on their edge 
with the stem of the tree innermost, present a for- 
midable barrier to sheep or cattle. I 

The fepces in these States are made sometimes 
of stone, with which some of the fields are but too 
well supplied. They are covered on the top with 
turf, and are very substantial. The cost of put- 



108 SIX years' residence 

ting up these fences or dikes, is generally ^ dol- 
lar per rod of 16 J feet in length, for a fence five 
feet high. The most common kind of fence 
throughout all the States is the fence made of rails 
placed alternately on the top of each other, in a 
zigzag direction, and braced at the angles by a 
rail at each side, placed in a slanting direction ; 
these, crossing each other at the top, are again 
firmly bound by a heavy rail on the top of all. 
This fence is the most simple of any, and requires 
neither nail nor pin, and it can be removed in a 
very short time to any distance. 

One great drawback to the beauty of American 
scenery is, the total absence of hedge-rows. The 
wooden fences have always a naked and dry ap- 
pearance. Near New York, several attempts have 
lately been made to introduce thorn hedges on the 
English plan. 

In America, saw-mills are generally to be found 
wherever there is a fall of water, as they serve 
both to clear the land, and are a source of profit 
to the proprietor. The price of pine boards per 
thousand feet in Vermont, is from three to ten 
dollars (13s. 6d. to 45s.) The latter price is only 
charged for very clean and sound boards. 

Regarding the climate, it may be remarked, that 
the Northern States are extremely cold in winter, 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 109 

and no less warm in summer, but very healthy, 
being quite exempted from the agues and fevers 
so prevalent in the middle and southern States. 
From November or December until May, the 
ground is usually covered with snow, which facili- 
tates travelling, and this season is enjoyed more 
than any, by the farmers, who visit each other, and 
amuse themselves by sleigh riding. It is at this 
season that timber is generally cut down ; and al- 
though while exposed to the blast, a person feels 
the cold very keenly, it is comparatively mild in the 
woods, people going about their work with their 
coats off, and many of them without any covering 
to their neck, without inconvenience. 

At a certain spot on the Connecticut river, 
where a number of people were engaged in rafting 
timber, 1 had an opportunity of seeing some very 
large trees. These were drawn by oxen to the 
edge of the bank of the river, at this place forming 
a very steep declivity of about 150 feet deep. Se- 
veral large trees were placed upon this slope to 
make a sort of way for the others to roll down upon, 
which they did with tremendous force, and launch- 
ed into the river, which was here above twenty 
feet deep, with great violence. Some of these 
trees which I measured were four feet in diameter 
at the thick end, and about three feet at the other, 

K 



110 SIX years' residence 

and from seventy to seventy-five feet long. One 
of these immense pieces of timber snapt through 
the middle while tumbling down the bank. It en- 
countered another tree which was displaced, and 
opposed it endways. It was thus rendered of lit- 
tle use, being intended for a mast. The proprie- 
tor informed me that he received about nine dol- 
lars (40s. 6d.) for these largest pieces on the spot: 
this was about fths of a penny sterling, per cubic 
foot. The weight of such a piece of wood is about 
thirteen tons. They were hauled down upon the 
snow by oxen in winter, from a hill about a quarter 
of a mile distant, and were intended to be conveyed 
to New Haven, about three hundred miles down 
the river. 

I knew a worthy old clergyman from Scotland, 
in Vermont, who has been a resident of that place 
for nearly forty years. His stipend has never ex- 
ceeded two hundred and fifty dollars per annum, 
and yet he believed that he was as well satisfied 
with that, as those who had four times the amount 
in large cities. He possessed about three hundred 
acres of land, a comfortable house, &c. 

There are a considerable number of Scotish 
people settled in these parts (Caledonia County, 
Vermont), who retain much of their original man- 
ners. In general, they seem much happier than 



IN THE UNITED STATES. Ill 

they ever were at home. Many of them have as- 
sured me, that exertions which would barely have 
procured them food and clothing in Scotland, in 
the course of a few years' industry and persever- 
ance, have rendered them independent proprietors 
of good farms containing 100 to 200 acres, with a 
stock of cattle, &c. amply sufficient for all their 
demands. 

The houses in this place are generally built of 
wood, either frame or log. The former are con- 
structed of boards, nailed on a sort of skeleton or 
frame of timbers, and lathed and plastered inside, 
or lined with smooth boards. The logs with which 
farm houses are built, are squared, and the seams 
filled up with some kind of cement. As these 
logs are about twelve inches square, they form a 
very solid and durable wall. The chimneys are 
of brick, and the fire place in the kitchen is usu- 
ally seven or eight feet wide ; in these, large fires 
are kept up in winter; you may often see more 
than half a load of wood at once upon a fire. 
There is generally an oven at one side for baking 
bread and pies, which the women manufacture in 
great perfection. 

There is a great deal of wild honey found here 
in trees which have become decayed and hollow. 
So much as seventy or eighty lbs. have been got 
K 2 



112 

in one trunk, but in the cutting of it down, there 
is often a good deal of it spoiled. I bought a 
small keg of excellent honey at 10 cents (5id.) per 
lb. 

A considerable quantity of sheep are raised here. 
The farmers give to cattle, and also to sheep, a re- 
gular supply of salt ; it is considered to be effica- 
cious in preventing various diseases to which these 
animals are subject. All that is necessary to be 
done, is to lay a handful of salt here and there 
upon a flat stone ; the animals lick it up with great 
avidity. There is occasionally considerable da- 
mage done to sheep by the catamount, a large spe- 
cies of wild cat, or panther, as it is sometimes 
termed in America. They are capable of ascend- 
ing trees with great facility, and are considered 
dangerous to the huntsman if wounded only : some 
of them have been shot measuring about six feet 
exclusive of the tail, and 140 lbs. in weight. Bears 
seldom make their appearance ; when such is the 
case, the whole of the country people turn out, 
and divide themselves into companies. By enclo- 
sing a large tract of ground, and approaching each 
other gradually, they make sure of their prey. 
Sometimes three days and nights will elapse before 
the hunt is over; during which time, the hunters 
encamp out all night, and such meetings are the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 113 

occasion of much mirth and amusement amonirst 
the younger part of the community. Bears are 
very hard to kill, and sometimes receive as many 
as fifteen or sixteen balls in their body before they 
fall. When wounded, they are very fierce, al- 
though I knew an instance of a man who beat off 
an old bear, attended by two cubs, with no other 
weapon than the branch of a tree. To talk of 
wild beasts being a great detriment to settlers in 
America, is quite absurd. 

As this part of the country is within seventy 
miles of Canada, I made inquiry whether there 
was much smuggling carried on, but was informed 
that the roads near the lines are so strictly watched 
both by British and American custom-house offi- 
cers, that little was done in this business. A per- 
son, however, who was well acquainted with the 
country, informed me, that by striking into the 
woods, he could easily secure a horse load of 
goods at any time, but that nothing extensive could 
be done. The new American tariff will operate as 
a great temptation to smuggle, — the duty on some 
kinds of Glasgow coarse muslins being equal to 
150 per cent, or more on the first cost. 

Regarding education in general, in the northern 
States, it may be remarked that there are few peo- 
ple who cannot read and write. Newspapers are 
K 3 



114 SIX years' residence 

to be had in every small town of America, and 
even in villages which do not contain twenty 
houses. The inhabitants, therefore, through cu- 
riosity to know what is going on in the world, ac- 
quire a habit of reading and discussing politics. 
Their learning extends little farther, unless 
amongst those who are intended for the learned 
professions. No farmer here would ever think of 
sending his son to learn Greek or Latin, unless he 
expected to make him a minister, and that is a bu- 
siness that does not pay well here. 

Upon our return to Albany about the beginning 
of October, the city was in a great bustle, an im- 
mense concourse of people being assembled from 
all parts to witness the opening of the Erie canal. 
The civil and military processions were certainly 
very grand ; and several corps of the latter were 
fine looking men, arrayed in handsome uniforms; 
but I have seldom observed in America what we 
call a military appearance amongst the soldiery : 
they in general seem to have a wonderful propen- 
sity to incline their heads forward, and their shoul- 
ders have a peculiarly awkward appearance. 

The canal was opened into the Hudson with 
o-reat ceremony. Several fine speeches were deli- 
vered ; and a bottle of water from the Pacific 
Ocean thrown into the river. Sometime after this, 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 115 

the other end of the canal was opened into Lake 
Erie ; and as the Americans are always fond of a 
little " frolicking," as they call it, they found am- 
ple scope for their faculties on this occasion. Can- 
nons were placed along the whole course of the 
canal, and down the river Hudson, as far as Sandy 
Hook, at small distances ; a signal being given at 
the instant of opening the canal, the cannons 
were fired as quickly as the report was conveyed 
from one to the other ; and as soon as this sort 
of telegraphic intelligence reached New York, the 
signal was repeated back to Lake Erie. The dis- 
tance to and from Lake Erie was above eleven 
hundred miles, and the whole operation was per- 
formed in little more than three hours, which is 
about one-half the velocity with which sound tra- 
vels. 



116 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER VIII. 



NEW YORK — CLIMATE — YELLOW FEVER — SERMONS ON DO OPI- 
NIONS OF FACULTY REGARDING FEVER — COMPARATIVE SALUBRITY 
OF AMERICAN CLIMATE. 

Although the climate of New York cannot be 
altogether deemed unhealthy, it has at different 
periods been visited by that dreadful scourge of 
mankind, the yellow fever ; a disease about which 
there has been much discussion amongst all ranks. 
New York was visited with this pestilence in 1822. 
It was generally allowed to have been imported 
from the West Indies ; but there were many expe- 
rienced men who averred that it was a natural pro- 
duction of the climate. One party asserted, that 
it broke out in consequence of too many dead 
bodies having been crowded into one church-yard, 
which corrupted the atmosphere to such a degree, 
that many experiments were tried to confirm this 
opinion. A piece of fresh raw beef was hung up in 
this burying-ground, about three feet from the sur- 
face, and it was said to have become putrid in half 
an hour. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 117 

As the fever broke out in a very populous part 
of the city, the faculty were, at first, rather afraid 
of being too premature in announcing the yellow 
fever ; the very mention of this disease causing 
more alarm and consternation amonst the citizens, 
than can be well imagined by people living in 
climes where the melancholy effects of this malady 

are unknown. At last, a Dr N , more bold 

than his brethren, let out the dreadful secret, and 
in spite of much contradiction his opinion was 
confirmed but too soon. This intelligence operated 
like a thunderbolt on the citizens. Almost every 
person in a district, containing 40,000 to 50,000 
inhabitants, fled forthwith in some direction or 
other. The chief resort was to a part of the 
suburbs called Greenwich, where hundreds of 
wooden houses were reared up in a twinkling, and 
even Sunday put no stop to the sound of the ham- 
mer or the saw, to the great discomposure of some 
of the New York clergy. One minister, in his 
sermons, told the people plump down, that this 
pestilence was the effects of Divine vengeance upon 
them, on account of their horrible wickednesses ; 
in the catalogue of which he enumerated, sabbath- 
breaking, profanity, cheating and lying, and last, 
though not least, was their crime of running 
to the playhouse in the midst of their calamities, 



118 

to attend to the quips and quirks of a celebrat- 
ed buffoon, who had just then arrived at New 
York. This personage was neither more nor 
less than our worthy countryman Matthews. 
The reverend gentleman made use of words, 
regarding their trading sins, to this effect. — 
" Oh ! that the walls of our custom house could 
speak, that they might announce the weight and 
amount of deliberate perjury and wickedness, which 
are hourly committed within their precincts." Now 
the merchants of New York consider themselves 
as the most honourable set of men on the face of 
the globe, and felt extremely indignant at such 
language. I have heard more than one of them 
say, that the parson ought to have been stoned, — at 
all events, pumped. I have no idea that the 
New York merchants are a whit more fastidious 
in regard to custom-house oaths than their neigh- 
bours, but they assuredly did not deserve more 
than the clergyman alleged against them. The 
faculty of New York were quite divided in their 
opinions regarding this fever; one party, most strenu- 
ously asserting that it was contagious ; another, 
that it was not so ; and a third, that it was contagi- 
ous, only, in an infected atmosphere ; that is, that 
a person labouring under the disease, and removed 
out of what they called the infected district, to a 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 119 

healthy situation, would not communicate the dis- 
ease to others. This seems to have been the great 
bone of contention amongst the doctors, and they 
ended their controversy just about where they be- 
gan it, quite bigotted in their several opinions. 
One thing is certain, that people who were so rash 
as to go into the prohibited districts, in stjveral 
instances, caught the infection and died, without 
having been near any sick person. One or two 
young men, who went out of mere curiosity (and 
a very foolish curiosity it was) to look through the 
fences put up at the limits of the infected district, 
became sick, and died within a few days after- 
wards. There was also the case of one who had 
gone into the deserted part of the city, for the lau- 
dable purpose of plundering the houses of the ab- 
sent citizens, and who was making a snug business 
of it. He fell sick about five miles from town ; 
and having made some sort of confession before 
his death, many articles of plate, and other valua- 
bles, were found in his trunks. His was a most 
decided case of genuine yellow fever. During 
this most distressing period, many houses were 
robbed ; and, in some instances, where the scoun- 
drels were, disappointed of money, they vented 
their spleen on looking-glasses, fine furniture, &c. 
The Faculty agreed in one respect ; this was to 



120 SIX years' residence 

make an experiment of purifying the air, by strew- 
ing the infected district with quicklime and char- 
coal. About two thousand dollars were laid out 
on this experiment, to what good effect did not ap- 
pear. One opinion regarding the cause of this 
malady was, that the ground where the fever broke 
out, teemed with animalcules, which floated in the 
air at certain times, and gradually extended their 
limits in various directions, at the rate of a few 
feet every day. It was imagined that people were 
infected by inhaling these invisible agents along 
with the common air. Animalcules were disco- 
vered mingled with the matter thrown up by peo- 
ple in the last stage of this disease. I have heard 
of a French physician in the West Indies, who was 
a firm nontagionist, and, by way of illustrating his 
theory, actually swallowed several spoonfuls of 
such matter ejected by a person just at the point of 
death : he continued healthy. Whether any of the 
New York opposition gentlemen carried their zeal 
so far is doubtful. It was calculated that from ten 
thousand to twenty thousand persons would have 
fallen victims to this disease, had they not quickly 
removed at the first alarm. As the matter turned 
out, there were in all only about four hundred 
cases, of which two hundred and forty died. The 
extra expense, loss in business, &c. incurred by 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 121 

the citizens of New York this season, was esti- 
mated at from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 dollars. 

An extract from the papers of the Literary and 
Philosophical Society of New York, may not be 
out of place here : " Censuses have been ta- 
ken of this city and State, and of the United 
States, at various periods, and with unquestiona- 
ble accuracy. Bills of Mortality have been kept 
here, and in Philadelphia, Boston, and some other 
large towns, and tables of the number of births 
have also been collected in a few places. On com- 
paring the births with the whole population, the 
deaths with the whole population, the number of 
births with the number of deaths, and considering 
our rapid augmentation of inhabitants, doubling 
in some States in thirteen or fourteen years, and 
upon a general average in twenty to twenty-three 
years, there can be no doubt, but that the United 
States have a decided preference over the healthi- 
est parts of Europe ; while in Paris, London, and 
Amsterdam, there are more deaths than births, 
it is ascertained, that in our great cities, there are 
at least two births to one death. The charges 
which hav.e been brought against the supposed de- 
leterious effects of our climate upon the human 
body, have been thus refuted with the certainty of 
demonstration.'' 



122 SIX years' residence 

Upon comparing the number of births with the 
number of deaths in Philadelphia, and some other 
large towns, from authentic tables for several 
years, I have found the former to the latter to be 
as seventy to forty-four, not as two to one. 



N THE UNITED STATES. 123 



CHAPTER IX. 

LONG ISLAND— FIELDS AND FRUIT TREES— HEAT— WINTER SLEDGES, 
&C. — FARMERS — INDIAN CORN — RAPID VEGETATION — PALMA 
CHRISTI— APPLES AND CYDER — SNAKES —SKUNK — HORSES AND 
HORSE RACES— CONDUCT OF POPULACE. 

Long Island, which is situated to the east ot 
New York, is about a hundred and thirty miles in 
length, but very narrow in proportion. A consi- 
derable part of it is sandy and barren, or rocky. 
It is, however, mostly level, and there are some 
well cultivated and fertile spots in it. The appear- 
ance of the fields in the beginning of summer is 
truly beautiful. They are regularly studded with 
fruit trees, at the distance of twenty-five or thirty 
yards : this serves as a shade to protect the cattle 
from the great heat of the sun ; and it is also 
thought necessary to shade even the crops of 
wheat and other grain. The sun is exceedingly 
powerful during the summer months. I have of- 
ten seen the thermometer rise to 140" in July and 
August, about two o'clock in the afternoon, when 
exposed to the full influence of the sun, and placed 
L 2 



134 

so as to receive the rays of that luminary in a di- 
rection perpendicular to the plane of the thermo- 
meter ; at the same time, the instrument being 
placed in the shade of a large tree, about five feet 
from the ground, and exposed to a fine breeze, in- 
dicated 96", but this high degree of heat felt by no 
means oppressive, as long as the breeze continued: 
many, close, sultry, calm days, felt more uncomfor- 
table with the thermometer at 76". The summer 
cannot be said to last longer here than about five 
months; at least, fires are necessary for about 
seven months in tlie year, excepting an occasional 
day in spring. The autumn is generally a delight- 
ful season. The winter is very severe. Frosty 
weather in America is generally clear, accompa- 
nied with a strong breeze from north-west, which 
blows over an immense tract of uncultivated and 
frozen land, and carries along with it a very bitter 
degree of cold. At times, it is almost impossible 
to walk with your face against the blast. The 
spring in New York is often disagreeable ; the 
streets sometimes being almost impassable. The 
forenoon sun here at all seasons has considerable 
influence; melting the snow off the houses, which 
freezes again at night, and renders walking danger- 
ous. The winter gives the New Yorkers an op- 
portunity of enjoying their favourite diversion of 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 125 

sleighing, or running sledges on the snow. Some 
of these machines are very elegant ; and there are 
occasionally as many as six horses harnessed to 
one of them. These are finely caparisoned and 
ornamented with small bells, to give notice of 
their approach, otherwise many accidents would 
occur, as there is nothing but hard driving in 
fashion. The common draymen make use of 
sledges when opportunity offers, so that the streets 
are a complete scene of confusion and bustle, and 
not to be crossed at every place without great cir- 
cumspection. 

- These machines go at a great rate, and are used 
for conveying the mail. The body of the coach is 
lifted off the wheels, and placed upon what are 
called runners, which is a frame furnished with 
two narrow iron bars to run along the snow or ice 
in the same manner as a pair of skates. A person 
unaccustomed to this mode of travelling, is very 
apt to feel the same sensation as that of sea-sick- 
ness. 

The farmers in Long Island, and it applies in 
general to almost every other State, seem to live 
very comfortably ; and although, now that slavery 
is abolished in the Northern States, they are com- 
pelled to work hard, their manner of living ena- 
bles them to stand a great deal of fatigue. Al- 
L 3 



]26 SIX years' residence 

most every farmer keeps a carriage of some kind 
or other, to convey his family to church ; and also 
for the purpose of taking a few articles to and 
from market. These carriages are mostly vi^hat 
are called Jersey waggons, being slight four-wheeled 
machines with two or three seats across. They 
are furnished with springs (of rather a rude con- 
struction, however), and are extremely convenient. 
Few people in this place think of walking much : 
a walk of twenty miles a day would subject the 
performer to the imputation of great folly, or great 
poverty. 

The principal articles raised in Long Island, are 
wheat, rye, and Indian corn. The wheat crops 
are light in general ; producing from twenty to 
twenty-five bushels per acre. 

Indian corn is certainly one of the most produc- 
tive articles with which Providence has blessed 
mankind; and the cultivation of it is simple. It is 
planted in rows three or four feet apart, so as to 
leave room for a plough to pass along. Four or 
five grains are put in together at a distance of 
three feet ; of these, only two or three stalks are 
suffered to grow. It attains the height of seven 
or eight feet (although in Carolina I have seen it 
ten to twelve feet high). A field of such grain 
presents a magnificent and luxuriant appearance. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 127 

Each stalk produces from two to four heads of 
corn; and upon some of these may be counted 
600 ffrahis. Beinn: roasted or boiled in the half- 
ripe or green state, this article forms one of the 
most delicious morsels of an American dinner. 
The blades of this grain, which are long and 
broad, form an excellent food for cattle. The 
grains are separated from the husk, either by being 
trampled by the feet of cattle, or rubbed oiF by the 
hand, which those accustomed to this operation 
perform with great expedition. In trampling it 
out, the oxen move round a space of ground in a 
circular direction. This, probably, was the an- 
cient method ; whence the injunction in scripture, 
not to muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. 

The rapid progress of vegetation in America 
may be readily discerned in the growth of this 
grain. I have repeatedly measured the stalks or 
blades in such a manner, as that there could be no 
mistake, and found a difference or increase of four 
to five inches in twenty-four hours. People in 
the country here talk of hearing it grow. After a 
shower of rain, one would hardly reckon this an 
exaggeration. The produce of this grain is va- 
rious, being from twenty to forty, and even sixty 
bushels an acre. There is no doubt but that In- 
dian corn mif^ht be raised in Britain, in favourable 



128 SIX years' residence 

summers ; at least to the state in which it is used 
roasted ; but this would be more an article of lux- 
ury than of necessity — of curiosity rather than ge- 
neral utility. 

Indian corn, or meal, has been little valued in 
Britain ; but the fact is, that the proper way of 
preparing it is unknown. It should be ground 
very coarse, or rather merely broken in the same 
manner as malt, and not reduced to a powder. It 
ought, in the first place, to be clean washed, put 
into a pot with some cold water, and boiled until 
it is somewhat thicker than oatmeal porridge. It 
is frequently eat with butter put upon it, or along 
with fried pork, &c. and sometimes with milk. 

In Long Island, an immense quantity of shu- 
mac grows wild, chiefly along the fences. This 
shrub might be cultivated to considerable advan- 
tage ; but no attention seems to be bestowed upon 
it. 

The Palma-Christi, or plant from which Castor 
oil is extracted, thrives in most of the middle and 
southern States of America. It is a very eleo-ant 
shrub, and with a little cultivation would produce 
a great quantity of oil. In Louisiana and Florida 
it grows wild, and is the largest annual plant 
known in North America, frequently attaining the 
height of twenty feet, with a stem six inches in 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 129 

diameter. I have seen it in great perfection in 
Pennsylvania. 

A great quantity of fine apples are produced in 
Long Island. One field containing a thousand 
trees is no uncommon sight. An immense quan- 
tity of apples lies on the ground in these orchards 
in summer, which are eagerly devoured by the cat- 
tle or hogs. A considerable quantity of cyder is 
made. I have seen single trees which had pro- 
duced six barrels of cyder in one season, and it 
takes three barrels of apples to make one of cyder: 
this drink is much used by the country people. 
In summer and harvest time, the farm servants are 
allowed as much cyder as they choose ; and every 
two men, black as well as white, are allowed one 
quart of common rum or whisky every day. The 
grain is all cut down by the scythe; and it is asto- 
nishing to observe with what dexterity, celerity, 
and neatness, the crops are cut down. However 
marvellous it may appear, it is an undoubted flict,- 
that four acres of excellent hay have been cut 
down in one single day by a Long Island mower. 
The plough with two stilts is coming into use; 
several farmers having procured iron ones from 
Scotland. .The old plough with one stilt is, how- 
ever, much used : it looks very awkward, especi- 
ally in some fields which are stony. 



130 SIX years' residence 

Common black snakes (Coluber constrictor) are 
often to be met with in the woods ; but I never 
heard of any serious harm being done by them, al- 
though people have occasionally been considera- 
bly alarmed by their appearance, as they are very 
bold. I have shot them nearly five feet in length, 
and as thick as one's wrist. 

I cannot help taking notice of a small ani- 
mal which is frequently to be met with here, 
namely, the polecat, or as the Americans ap- 
propriately term it, the skunk. When closely 
pursued, the chief defence of this creature con- 
sists in its possessing from nature the instinc- 
tive faculty of wetting its tail, (not with aqua pura 
at all events,) by flourishing which all around it 
with wonderful celerity, it besprinkles its enemies 
of every description with a liquid, the effusion of 
which is the most abominable to be imagined. I 
once, in company with a young man, gave chace 
to one of these animals in Long Island, which at 
length took refuge beneath the stump of a decayed 
tree, and immediately commenced offensive opera- 
tions. In a few seconds, my friend and I disco- 
vered the native we had to deal with, and retreated 
as speedily as possible from the scene of action ; 
but to retreat from an odour, the most villanous 
in nature, which adhered to our clothes and to our 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 131 

persons, was impossible. Before entering our 
lodging, we were under the necessity of casting off 
a considerable part of our apparel ; but in spite of 
all that soap and water could do, and our having 
recourse to the aid of perfumes, more congenial to 
the olfactory nerves of civilized mankind, for seve- 
ral days did the vile scent of the skunk predomi- 
nate. A terrier dog which, assisted in our hunt, 
and received the greater part of the skunk-water, 
did nothing for some days but roll in the mud, rub 
himself upon the grass, and use every method in 
his power to get rid of the odious flavour. J have 
heard it asserted, and by no means doubt the truth 
of the affirmation, that the smell of the skunk has 
been known to reach to the distance of two miles. 
The inhabitants of this State have, of late years, 
paid great attention to their breed of horses ; and 
several have been produced, which, for speed and 
beauty, do no discredit to their English grandsires 
and grandams. In the spring of 1823, a match 
was concluded between the jockeys of New York 
and those of Virginia, for twenty thousand dollars 
a side. This race was run on the course at Long 
Island, about ten miles from New York, and was 
extremely well contested. The match was for the 
best of three 4 mile heats. The Virginian horse 
gained the first heat; the New Yorkers then, 



132 SIX years' residence 

somehow or other, had their rider changed for 
what they considered a more expert hand : the 
matter did not seem altogether fair to some people. 
In consequence of this change, the New York 
horse gained the two last heats by two or three 
lengths. The average time in which each of these 
heats was performed, was six minutes and thirty- 
eight seconds. The whole distance run was twelve 
miles ; so that the horses of America want neither 
speed nor bottom. Next day, a race was run for 
a thousand dollars a side, which was gained by the 
Virginians. Great sums were at stake upon these 
races. 

To convey a suitable idea of the great esteem, 
if I may so call it, in which the New York horse 
Eclipse was held even by the fair sex, I may men- 
tion, that a young lady of Long Island very grave- 
ly told a female friend of my own, that she would 
cause her father to procure for her a hair or two 
of the Eclipse's tail, for the purpose of making a 
finger ring. My friend assured her, that she real- 
ly had not the smallest particle of ambition to pos- 
sess such a relic ; at which want of taste, the young 
American damsel expressed no small degree of as- 
tonishment. 

The race-ground presented a scene of great in- 
terest, no less than fifty thousand people being 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 133 

upon the ground, many of them from distant 
parts of the Union. Many scenes of mirth and 
joHity occurred ; but although liquor of every de- 
scription flowed in abundance, be it said to the 
credit of the Americans, that very few scenes of 
riot or quarrelling took place. One cannot help 
remarking the peaceable and orderly conduct 
amongst all ranks in America, whether in the 
country, or in large towns, and all this quietness 
and decorum seems to result from the comfortable 
state of the people in general, and not from the 
mere terror of having a troop of armed men let 
loose amongst them. Excepting in coaches or 
waggons, there were no ladies on the ground, and 
but few females of any description. 



M 



134 SIX years' RESllD^NCE 



CHAPTER X. 



nOAD TO PHrLADELPHIA— JOSEPH BONAPARTE — APPEARANCE OF 
PHILADELPHIA — SQUARES — PUBLIC BUILDINGS — QUAKERISM — 
MINT — MARKETS — BRIDGES — BANKS OF SCHUYLKILL ON SUNDAY 
EVENING — MUSEUM — MAMMOTH — HOSPITAL — LIBRARIES — 
FRANKLIN'S TOMB. 



The distance by the mtiil-coach road from New 
York to Philadelphia is 95 miles ; but the cheap- 
est and most usual route is by the steam-boat 
line, which conveys you in eleven or twelve 
hours generally. There are twenty-five miles of 
this route performed in stage coaches, viz. from 
New Brunswick to Trenton, where you go on 
board a steam-boat which carries you to Philadel- 
phia, thirty miles farther down the river Dela- 
ware. The whole charge from New York to Phi- 
ladelphia, by one line of boats and stages, is only 
two dollars (9s.) A few miles below Trenton, you 
pass on the left bank of the river the seat of 
Joseph Bonaparte : his grounds are extensive ; and 
although the land is not remarkable for richness, 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 135 

he is making considerable improvements on it, 
and employs a great number of workmen. He 
has taken considerable pains to bring a good breed 
of game from England, and other parts of Europe, 
to his estate. This ex-king of Spain is now trans- 
formed into a plain, useful, country gentleiuaii, 
and he is in general well spoken of by all who have 
had any dealings with him. He is very huniane 
and liberal to the distressed, especially of his own 
country. He is occasionally to be met with on 
board the steam-boat, and appears to be a most 
unassuming, mild-looking, decent man ; possessing, 
however, a considerable share of family likeness to 
his once illustrious brother, but his countenance 
exhibits little of that determined inflexibility which 
was so conspicuous in Napoleon's looks. He 
sometimes makes use of a sedan chair, which 
would be unworthy of notice, were it not the only 
machine of the kind I ever saw in Araerica, and 
seemed to excite great astonishment amongst some 
of the natives. Although by no means ostenta- 
tious, or desirous of attracting particular notice in 
his mode of travelling, yet I could plainly perceive, 
that especially about the landing places, there was 
a considerable degree of respect and deference 
evidenced even by the Republican populace of 
America, towards this personification of fallen 
M 2 



136 SIX years' residence 

royalty. Joseph, by the bye, does not, in one res- 
pect at least, resemble his fore-runner of Egypt ; 
his wife has been on the continent of Europe for 
some years past, and if scandal is not too busy, he 
is charged with being rather too polite to the la- 
dies. 

On approaching Philadelphia, it has by no 
means such a striking appearance as New York, 
being embellished with only two or three steeples ; 
and the houses next the river present a very 
o-loomy aspect, the bricks of which many of them 
are constructed being dark-coloured. Like New 
York, it stands between two rivers, the Delaware 
on the east, and the Schuylkill on the west, about 
four miles above their junction. This city is laid 
out upon a very regular plan ; the streets crossing 
each other at right angles. From river to river 
the distance is exactly two miles ; in which space 
twenty-three streets run north and south: these 
are crossed by streets running east and west; 
the principal of which is Market Street. In 
Philadelphia, the streets are so much alike, 
and placed at such equal distances apart, that 
however paradoxical it may appear, I have 
heard strangers remark, that they encountered as 
much difficulty in finding their way properly 
through this city of regularity, as they ever did 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 137 

in some towns which are remarkable for crooked 
and diagonal streets. Many of them are not 
marked so regularly as they might be. Upon the 
whole, this city presents a much more neat and 
clean appearance than New York ; but it wants, in 
a great measure, that enlivening stir and bustle 
which is so conspicuous in the latter place. The 
trade of Philadelphia has fallen greatly off within 
the last twenty years. It is said, however, that a 
vast deal of wealth still belongs to it. It is report- 
ed that a banker of the name of Stephen Gerard 
in this town, is the richest man in America, pos- 
sessing property to the amount of from fifteen to 
seventeen millions of dollars. 

There are several very large squares in Phila- 
delphia, which must contribute greatly to the 
health of the inhabitants, and gives an airy look to 
the city. Two of these squares measure at least 
eight or nine hundred feet on each side, and the 
middle is handsomely laid out with shrubs and 
flowers. 

Philadelphia is well supplied with many hand- 
some and convenient churches for all denomina- 
tions of Christians : the whole number of these is 
about seventy. 

The National Bank lately erected here at an 
enormous expense, is a very massy building, en- 
M 3 



138 SIX years' residence 

tirely of white marble, and quite in the classic style^ 
but rather gloomy in appearance, having no win- 
dows in the front, and it is by no means situated 
so as to be seen to advantage. The capital of this 
bank is thirty-five millions of dollars (£7,875,000,) 
a branch of which is established in most of the 
principal towns in America. 

In Chesnut Street, there is a handsome range 
of buildings, comprising the State House, Public 
Courts, and the Museum. The hall in which the 
declaration of independence was drawn out and 
signed, is in the ground floor of this range. The 
theatre nearly opposite is a very large building; 
but the stage is not patronised so much here as in 
New York. 

A new State Prison, on a very extensive scale, 
is now erecting on the outskirts of the city. The 
buildings and yards will occupy ten acres. The 
principle of solitary confinement will predominate 
in this establishment. 

Philadelphia is often spoken of in Britain as 
being a complete town of Quakers ; but if their 
numbers may be estimated from their places of 
worship, they would seem to form only a small 
part of the community, there being only five or 
six meeting houses for Quakers in the whole city : 
one or two of these, however, are very large. The 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 139 

whole of Philadelphia and its inhabitants, have 
certainly received a considerable tinge of Quaker- 
ism, at least in appearance. In general, they are 
more cautious than the New Yorkers, and not 
quite so frank to strangers, although it is likely 
that they may be fully more steady. There are 
diiFerent degrees of Quakerism here ; much affec- 
tation and frippery may be seen amongst the dan- 
dies of that sect ; it is only by some slight em- 
blem that they can be distinguished from their 
stay and whalebone brethren. Some of the Qua- 
ker ladies dress very richly ; a trifling difference 
perhaps in the shape of their hat, alone, serving to 
distinguish them from the " women of this world." 

The Quakers here, in general, deserve the cha- 
racter which few will deny them, being honest, 
peaceable, inoffensive, and humane, although some 
of them are complete Jews, in the common sense 
of the word. 

The Mint, where the national money is coined, 
is an obscure building. The chief currency in 
America consists of Spanish coin. The whole 
amount which has been coined since the establish- 
ment of the present government is 23,000,000 
dollars in gold and silver. In the year 1826, 
gold and silver equal in value to 29,000,000 dol- 
lars was coined in the tower of London, and in the 



140 SIX years' residence 

eighteen months ending December 1829, gold alone 
to the amount of 87,000,000 dollars was coined at 
the same place.* Gold is hardly to be seen in 
America in general business. Bank notes to an 
immense amount are issued all over the country. 
In the common course of business, I have repeat- 
edly put single bank bills of three thousand dollars 
each through my hands. In some States, notes for 
such small sums as 6^ and 12^ cents (S^d. and 
6|d.) are issued, and during the war with Britain 
bank notes for one cent (a half-penny) were quite 
current. Half, and quarter dollar notes are com- 
mon every where.f This creates much trouble 

* The coins issued from the United States Mint are as 
follows : — 
Gold. Eagle, weight 270 grains, value, 10 dollars, 45s. stg. 

Half do. ... 135 5 ... 22s.6d. ... 

Qr. do. ... 67^ 2i ... lls.3d. ... 

Standard gold is 11 parts pure, and 1 alloy. 
Silver. Dollar, weight 416 grains, 100 cents, 4s. 6d. ... 

... Half do. ... 208 ... 50 ... 2s, 3d. ... 

... Qr. do. ... 104 ... 25 ... Is. Ud.- 

... Dime, ... 41f ... 10 ... 5fd. ... 

... Half do. ... 20f ... 5 ... 2,\d.... 

Standard silver is 1485 parts pure, and 179 alloy. 

Copper. Cent equal to f^ths of a penny sterling, or a fraction 
more than an halfpenny. 
Half-cent (seldom in use) equal to a fraction more 
than a farthing sterling. 
f In the Southern States, where the Negroes cannot read. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 141 

and confusion to strangers, especially when taken 
into view along with the useless system of keeping 
up the name of the old currency, thus — 12J cents 
(6fd. sterling,) which is Is. New York currency, 
is in Philadelphia styled an eleven-penny bit, in 
Boston a ninepenny, and in Charleston a seven- 
penny. The better plan for strangers to adopt in 
their purchases, is invariably to demand the price 
of any article in dollars and cents, otherwise they 
are not unfrequently liable to be imposed upon in 
the hurry of marketing. 

The markets of Philadelphia have been much 
celebrated, and deservedly so. They are situated 
in Market Street, which is a hundred feet wide, 
and are built in the form of sheds, much in the 
same way as the new sheds at the Broomielaw, 
being merely a roof supported on each side by 
arches of brick. The stalls are placed at each 
side, and a passage is left open through the mid- 
dle. These sheds extend from the Delaware very 
nearly a mile in length, and are daily furnished 
with every necessary or luxury which the country 
affords, either animal or vegetable. They exhibit, 
in an eminent degree, a country rich in the good 

these small notes are ornamented with the figure of a pig, a 
dog, or a cock, and accordingly receive these appellations from 
the blacks. 



142 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

things of this life. Oil certain days also, the 
country people bring in an immense quantity of 
provisions in waggons, which are ranged along the 
upper part of this street, and one of the cross 
streets. Sometimes these waggons occupy a space 
of two miles in length, so that some idea may be 
formed of the whole. This market may certainly 
vie with any in the world for profusion and cheap- 
ness. The average price of excellent fresh beef is 
four to five cents (2d. to 2jd.) per lb. and other 
articles in proportion. I have frequently observed 
strings of what I took for small birds skinned, 
hanging up at the stalls, but on inquiry, found 
them to be frogs. These markets are kept very 
clean, the city being abundantly supplied with 
good water from the Schuylkill. The water is 
raised from this river by large water wheels con- 
nected with machinery, which forces the water 
through large pipes to the summit of an eminence 
about a mile from the city, from whence the water 
is conducted by pipes to every part of the town. 
This water undergoes little, if any filtration, and 
in summer is often disagreeably warm, a thermo- 
meter dipt into it standing at 74 or 76 degrees. 
It is, however, of great benefit to the city, being 
kept continually running through some streets, 
and is very convenient in case of fire. The pipes 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 143 

originally laid were of wood, which are now being 
replaced by cast-iron pipes mostly imported from 
Britain. 

At Philadelphia, there are two bridges over 
the Schuylkill, w^hich cannot fail to attract the 
notice of a stranger. The lower bridge consists 
of four arches built of wood, resting upon solid 
stone piers, which were raised at great expense, 
and against almost insurmountable difficulties. 
When it is considered, that the water where one 
of these piers stands, is forty- one feet deep at high 
water, the great difficulty of laying the foundation 
of such massy stone work at this depth, will be 
very obvious. The distance between two of the 
centre piers is a hundred and ninety- four feet, con- 
sequently, this shows the width of the arch ; the 
other three are rather less. These arches are 
built on the suspension principle; the carriage 
way appearing as if hanging from the roof The 
sides are built up, with windows on each side to 
admit light and air, and roofed over upon the top. 

The upper bridge is built of timber, and crosses 
the river in one prodigious span of three hundred 
and fifty feet from pier to pier : it is also built upon 
the suspension principle, and from the yielding na- 
ture of the materials of which it is composed, and 
the great extent it stretches over, unsupporcetl 



144 SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 

from beneath, it has evidently got a considerable 
inclination, or twist, to one side, which is said to 
have been occasioned by a gale of wind. A cer- 
tain number, only, of carriages are allowed to pass 
alongst it at the same time. An idea may be 
formed of the appearance of this bridge, by ima- 
gining to yourself a very long, large, one story 
house, (with windows in the sides and roofed over 
the top) lifted from its foundation and laid across 
the river, being also considerably raised in the 
middle. The lower bridge cost 400,000 dollars 
(.^90,000) in building. These fabrics are strik- 
ing proofs of the perseverance and mechanical 
genius of the Americans. Foot passengers pay one 
cent (a half-penny) in passing these bridges, both 
going and coming; carriages in proportion. 

The banks of the Schuylkill above the bridges 
are very beautiful and romantic, and adorned with 
some elegant seats. There are several handsome 
villages across the water here, the resort of a great 
many idlers on Sunday ; which day is most wo- 
fully trespassed upon by many of the inhabitants 
of the sober city of Philadelphia. The appear- 
ance of the suburbs on a fine Sabbath afternoon, 
especially near the banks of the rivers, would lead 
to the notion, that some great holiday was being 
celebrated. Such a turn out of well-dressed men 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 145 

and women, apparently in excellent spirits, and 
determined, as it were, to enjoy themselves, with- 
out much regard to decorum or quietness, can 
never be witnessed in Scotland on a Sunday even- 
ing, else the very nature of her population will 
be most wretchedly perverted. A person brought 
up in a country where the Sabbath is hallowed as 
it is in Scotland, cannot look, without indignation 
mingled with pity, to see respectable looking, well 
dressed females, seated in little boxes along side 
their gallants, describing the segment of a circle 
at least forty feet in diameter, by means of being 
suspended in these machines, and swung back- 
wards and forwards at a great rate. Another sort 
of whirligig concern carries ladies and gentlemen 
seated on wooden horses or chairs, round about 
in a horizontal direction. Such amusements are 
only resorted to by the most " base vulgar" in 
Scotland, or by mere children upon holidays. 

Taverns near the city drive a good business on 
Sunday, being well frequented by people who wish 
to breathe the fresh air, smoke cigars, eat cat-fish, 
drink grog, talk politics, and sundry other recrea- 
tions too tedious to enumerate. In the face of 
such open bare-faced Sabbath breaking, the Ame- 
ricans consider themselves quite a religious people ; 
and when challenged regarding such abuses, will 



146 SIX years' residence 

merely retort, that they are not such hypocrites as 
the Scotish. It is true that they neither grudge to 
build churches, nor maintain ministers at an ordi- 
nary rate, but they consider a little relaxation 
quite excusable at all times; and all manner of in- 
terference, or control, is perfectly incompatible 
with their principles. 

In regard to one branch of morality, the Ame- 
ricans are not quite so very strict as they would 
wish to be thought, I mean, that in many cases, 
there is not sufficient regard paid to the matrimo- 
nial tie : divorces and separations are too com- 
mon, and the advertising of run-a-way wives by 
their husbands, is a circumstance of daily occur- 
rence in some places. There are also a conside- 
rable number of cases, where the crime of bigamy 
is committed without much notice being taken of 
the matter. It must, however, be allowed, that 
fewer repentance-stool concerns occur among the 
people in general, than in some countries. Early 
Kiarriages may partly be the occasion of this. 

The Museum in Philadelphia is the private col- 
lection of a Mr Peale, and may be visited every 
lawful day, by paying 25 cents (13Jd.) The col- 
lection of stuffed wild beasts is tolerable, and the 
show of birds and insects quite respectable. There 
are several valuable and extraordinary speci- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 147 

mens of mineralogy and conchology. The anato- 
mical preparations are hardly worth mentioning. 
The most striking are the skeletons of a horse and 
his rider, mounted, with a dart in his hand, both 
of which, while in life, were remarkable for size. 
There are generally some living snakes to be seen. 
In 1824, a living specimen of the large bat or 
vampire (Vespertilio Vampirus) from Java, was 
exhibited here, the body of which was about the 
size of a pigeon, and the wings, when extended, 
measured nearly four feet in width. Two very 
beautiful brass cannon, richly engraved, which be- 
longed to the famous Dutch admiral. Van Tromp, 
are placed here. 

There are no ancient books or manuscripts, and 
only a very few coins, mostly of modern date. 
The paintings consist almost entirely of the por- 
traits of American heroes and statesmen, and a 
few other worthies conspicuous in the revolution. 
Paul Jones, the famous picaroon, has a station 
amongst them. One of the finest paintings is 
a full length portrait of the proprietor, done by 
himself Mr Peale is allowed on all hands to be 
a liberal and enlightened gentlemen, and is not 
unknown in Europe as a lover of natural history. 

The most conspicuous and attractive object in 
this Museum is the skeleton of the now unknown 
N 2 



148 SIX years' residence 

huge animal distinguished by the name of Mam- 
moth. The remains of this certainly antediluvian 
creature has excited much philosophical inquiry 
amongst the learned of Europe and America. 
That there did exist vast numbers of them on this 
continent is quite manifest, hardly a part of the 
country being without their remains, and some 
parts in the back country being literally strewed 
with their bones. 

The famous Doctor Hunter was decidedly of 
opinion, that the Mammoth was a carnivorous ani- 
mal. Buffoon and several others were of an op- 
posite opinion, asserting that these remains were 
merely the bones of elephants. It has, however, 
been shown, that if so, elephants in that age must 
have been at least six times as large as they are 
ever now seen in India, and the teeth differ consi- 
derably from those of that animal. If the human 
race in those days were of like dimensions with 
men of the present age, they must have had most 
formidable antagonists to contend with ; but the 
scripture expressly states, that there were giants be- 
fore the flood, and might not this be also the case 
amongst the inferior animals ? The whole gigan- 
tic race may have been destroyed at that time, so 
that after all, the elephant may be merely a dege- 
nerate race of this antediluvian Colossus. The 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 149 

tusks arcj however, somewhat different in appear- 
ance, the points being directed downwards, if I re- 
collect right. At all events I remember perfectly 
well of hearing a young lady exclaim on seeing it, 
that surely it could not have been an elephant, as 
the tusks were placed the wrong way; there is 
also a manifest difference in the grinding teeth 
from those of an elephant. 

The appearance of this skeleton strikes every 
beholder with astonishment, and one can hardly 
help exclaiming, " what a tremendous animal this 
must have been when alive." Some idea may be 
formed of it from the following dimensions of the 
skeleton in the Philadelphia Museum : 

Feet. Indies. 
Length from the point of the tusks to the end of 

the tail, 31 ... 

Ditto from the chin to the rump, . . 15 ... 

Height at the shoulders, 11 ... 

Width of the hips and body, .... 
Length of the under jaw, .... 
Weight of ditto 63 lbs. 

Length of thigh bone, .... 

Smallest circumference of ditto, 
Length of the large bone of the fore-leg. 
Greatest circumference of ditto. 
Smallest ditto ditto 

Circumference round the knee, 
Length of the tusks, .... 

Circumference of one tooth, 
Weight of one tooth, 4 lbs. 10 ozs. 
Weight of the whole skeleton, 1000 lbs. 
N 3 



5 


8 


3 


1 


3 


7 


1 


6 


o 


9 


3 


2i 


1 


5 


3 


8 


10 


7 


1 


H 



IjO six years' residence 

These bones were duo: up at a tarui fourteen 
miles west from New-Burgh, a town on the llutl- 
son, about sixty miles above New York. A suili- 
cient quantity of bones were also got at the same 
place, so as to form another skeleton, which Mr 
Peale, who undertook the digging of these re- 
mains, at great trouble and expense, sent to Lon- 
don, whore it is to be seen in the British Museum. 
A tradition prevails amongst the Indians, that 
there still exists a couple of these formidable ani- 
mals far to the westward of the rocky mountains, 
ready to be let loose by the Great Spirit, to de- 
vour up the sinful part of mankind, when they ar- 
rive at a certain pitch of wickedness. 

The Pennsylvania Hospital is a very extensive 
building, and the space around it is beautifully laid 
out with shrubs and ilowers. Upon a pedestal 
which stands on the o;i'i-'t'n in front, a statue of 
- William Penn is erected: his memory is deserved- 
ly revered here. In the Museum, I observed a 
beautiful small pyramid or pedestal, formed out 
of the identical tree beneath which M'illiam Penn 
concluded his treaty with the Indians. 

There are several excellent Public Libraries in 
the city. In the front of the Philadelphia library, 
a marble bust of Franklin is placed in a niche : it 
was executed in Italy at an expense of j£500. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 151 

He was buried in Christ Church-yard in North 
Second Street, and merely a plain stone points 
out the spot, where the remains of this plain, can- 
did, and unassuming philosopher is deposited. 

The Americans do not seem to express their 
veneration for their departed heroes, so much in 
rearing monuments to immortalise their names, as 
in a habitual veneration and respect to their me- 
mory. The names of Washington and Franklin 
are indelibly engraven on the heart of every Ame- 
rican. 

A considerable part of the next chapter being 
taken up with remarks on the manufacture of cot- 
ton goods, such of my readers as are not interested 
on that subject, may turn over lialf a dozen pages. 



152 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER XL 

COTTON MANUFACTURES — PRICE OF WEAVING UTENSILS — PRICE OF 
PROVISIONS, &C WAGES— ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS. 

The manufacture of cotton goods has made consi- 
derable progress in Philadelphia. In 1825, it was 
calculated that there were no less than five thou- 
sand looms at work in the city and suburbs. Two 
or three of the most extensive houses employed 
between two and three hundred hands each. The 
manufacturers generally dye all their own yarn. 
There are several bleaching establishments near 
the city. 6^ Cents (3jd.) is the general charge 
per lb. weight for full bleach. 

As I carried on the manufacturing a little my- 
self in Bristol, (twenty miles from Philadelphia,) 
I can speak with some degree of confidence on the 
subject. 

The average prices of weaving, for some years 
past, are such, that an ordinary weaver can rea- 
dily earn one dollar per day. In 1825 — 6, the 
price paid for weaving 4-4ths 8*^° common check 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 153 

was 5^ to 6 cents (3d. to 3|cl.) per yard of thirty- 
seven inches. (The weaver, be it observed, is not 
required to weave forty-five inches to the ell here.) 
Out of this, he must pay for the winding of his 
weft. This is generally done by boys or girls of 
from ten to fourteen years of age, who receive 62i 
cents (2s. lOd.) per week for each loom they sup- 
ply. Upon an average, each boy or girl can wind 
for two looms. 

There is hardly such a thing as dressing used in 
America, the yarn being of an excellent quality, 
as it is generally the best quality of upland, or 
New Orleans cotton that is spun there. Yarn, No. 
12 to 18, is spun out of as good stuff as what 
is used for No. 80 to 90 in Britain. No. 30 to 
32 is the finest warp used in America; and even 
that but in small quantities. The most common 
numbers used are from 10 to 16. I have known 
weavers finish thirty yards of 8°^ 4-lths check per 
day, for weeks together : this was earning about 
ten dollars (45s.) clear per week, and the general 
price of boarding paid by such tradesmen is 2^ 
dollars (lOs. 2d.) per week. The majority of 
small manufacturers board their workmen in their 
own houses, by which they generally gain a profit 
of about a dollar a week for each man. 

In 1825, I manufactured a quantity of 9°° apron 



154 SIX years' residence 

checks; the warp of which was No. 17 and 18, 
and wefted with No. 20. It was not without diffi- 
culty that I found weavers for such fine work, as 
they termed it. When finished, however, the 
cloth was preferred to imported lO*'" checks from 
Glasgow, and I received 27 cents by whole- 
sale for them in Philadelphia, which was more 
by two cents per yard than what British 10*"^ 
goods of the same breadth (33 inches) brought 
at that time. I put up a web or two of W^ 7-8ths 
gingham, warp No. 30, which I could not easily 
procure in Philadelphia ; but such fine work as 
this completely frightened any weaver to whom it 
was offered. I got them wove at last, after lying 
about seven months in the loom, by paying an ex- 
tra price, but I plainly saw, that the weavers in 
America like such work as they can rattle away at 
without much ceremony. What I mean is this, 
(as they expressed it themselves to me,) that they 
are fond of going through a great quantity of work 
in a short time. For example, they would much 
rather weave thirty yards a day at five cents, than 
fifteen yards at ten. 

Should a weaver feel so inclined, he may manu- 
facture goods for himself upon a very small scale. 
Ready warped chains are to be had in New York 
or Philadelphia, at any time, and weft eith r grey 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 155 

or dyed. Weavers, it must be confessed, in Ameri- 
ca, pay very little deference to their employers in 
general, and in many cases seem to think they are 
actually conferring a favour on the manufacturer 
by accepting of work. How different is this from 
the order of things in Glasofow. 

The weaving shops are dry and comforta- 
ble, many of them up stairs. In some streets in 
the suburbs of Philadelphia, you will hear little, 
save the rattling of the shuttle; and that too, in 
handsome two or three story brick houses. It will 
be a long time ere weavers will be got in America, 
who will consent to work in low and damp shops, 
and it is well known to manufacturers, that many 
kinds of fine muslin cannot possibly be woven un- 
less in a humid atmosphere ; there are enough of 
causes to create ague in America, without exciting 
them by artificial means. On these grounds there- 
fore, the manufacture of fine muslins in America 
will be retarded until such time as the population 
becomes overwhelming, and all the land cleared. 

As long as the high duties on low priced im- 
ported cotton goods continue in force, there can 
be little danger of the weaving trade wanting en- 
couragement; indeed, in the nature of things it is 
impossible. Low priced British plain cottons, 
checks, and stripes, are now almost entirely out of 



156 

the market. By the new Tariff, a duty of nine 
cents (5d.) is charged on the square yard of import- 
ed cottons, which in some cases amounts to nearly 
200 per cent, on the original cost ; this no doubt 
forms a great temptation to smuggling, but little is 
attempted in that way. 

The American government, by imposing heavy 
duties upon low priced British cottons, will ensure 
fair encouragement to their manufacturers, and by 
admitting British muslins of the finer descriptions 
at a moderate rate of duty, they will ensure to 
themselves a steady and respectable revenue, with- 
out in any degree injuring their own manufactur- 
ers. The more moderate that the duties may be 
upon fine muslins, the more extensive will be the 
demand. 

To a weaver, who in Scotland can earn little 
more than one shilling per day, and even that by 
hard working, America certainly offers very fair en- 
couragement. Reckoning his wages in Philadelphia 
even at one dollar a day, which he can make with 
ease, working only ten hours daily, he can procure 
every necessary of life considerably cheaper than 
in Glasgow. House rent and fuel are fully higher 
than in Scotland, but the cheapness of provisions 
in a family, will at least counterbalance that by the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 157 

year's end. The prices of a few articles may be 
mentioned : viz. 

Good fresh Beef . . 3^ to 3 cents (2d. to 2f d.) per lb. 
Do. salt do. . 3 to 4 — (Ud. to 2d. ) — 
Do. mutton . . 4 to 6 — (2d. to 3d. ) — 
Bacon Ham, average 10 to 12 — (5^d. to 6^d.) — 
Butter . . . . 12i to 18f — (6|d. to lO^d.) — 
Candles, (common) 12^ to 14 — (6|d. to Tjd.) — 
Soap, Brown . . 6^ — (S^d.) — 

Good Brown Sugar 9 to 10 — (od. to 5^d.) — 
Good Coffee . . 18 to 25 — (lOd. to IS^d.) — 
Good Black Tea, (little used here) 75 — (3s. 4id.) — 
Good Green Tea . 1 to 1| dollars (4s. 6d. to 5s. 8d.) — 
Chocolate . . . 18 to 31 cents (lOd. to I7d. ) — 
Flour is generally 5 to G dollars, (22s. 6d. to 27s. per barrel of 
196 lbs. nett weight.) 

Tobacco in almost every shape, is cheap in 
America; but some articles manufactured from this 
plant are very high in price. There is a kind of 
chewing tobacco, called " Cavendish," made up in 
small rolls like the kind known by the name of 
Negro-head, which sells at one dollar per lb. whilst 
the latter sells at lOd. per lb. In Philadelphia, 
you may purchase a coarse kind of segars, so low 
as twenty-ftve cents (IS^d.) per hundred, and I 
have seen a still coarser sort at only Td. per hun- 
dred, whilst the finest Havanna segars are not sold 



158 SIX years' residence 

under twenty to twenty-two dollars (£4 10s. to 
£4^ 19s.) per box, which contains one thousand. 

If a weaver enjoys good health, to use a homely 
phrase, he may " live upon clover," comparatively 
speaking. The first summer or fall, strangers are 
no doubt liable to suffer more or less from inter- 
mittent fevers, which prevail in a certain degree 
every season, all over the low country. 

Owing to the great increase of the weaving busi- 
ness in Philadelphia, there is considerable employ- 
ment for makers of weaving utensils, Reed-makers 
and Heddle-makers. A statement of the prices 
charged for the following articles, will show what 
degree of encouragement is held out to such 
tradesmen. 

A Warping Mill 7 yards in circumference, costs 17 dollars, or 

^3 16s. 6d. 
Heck for do. with 100 eyes, made of common iron wire, 

twisted, costs 8 to 9 dollars, 36s. to 40s. 6d. 
Heck do. with 100 eyes, of good brass and steel materials, and 

well finished, costs from 16 to 18 dollars, ^3 12s. to £4 Is. 
A Loom Frame, costs from 4 to 6 dollars, 1 8s. to 27s. 
A f Common Lay, (or Lathe as it is 

called here,) .... 3^ dollars or 15s. 9d. 

A f Double Box, do H — or 19s. 2d. 

A I Common Lay 5 — or 22s. 6d. 

A I Double Box, do. ' 6^ — or 28s. 2d. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 159 

Shuttles, which are generally of a very superior manufacture, 

cost 1;| dollars, or (os. 8d. each.) 
Bobbins for warping 3 to 8 cents each. Bobbins for weft 1^ 

dollars, or (5s. 8d.) per gross. 
Reeds, made wholly of brass, 20 cents (lid.) per hundred, 

splits. 
Do. do. of cane, 15 cents (8^) do. 

Worsted Heddles, 20 to 22 cents (lid. to 12d.) do. 

Such are the prices for these articles neii^ but 
there are estabh'shments in Philadelphia and New 
York, where all these utensils may be had second 
hand, considerably cheaper. 

The following were the prices of weaving in 
New York and Philadelphia in 1827. 

f 7"° Stripes or plaid, per yard of 37 inches, 3^ cents or 2d. 

- 8^^ do 4 

f 7'^*' Check 5 

- 8"^ do G 

- lO^o do 10 

f 7°^ Gingham 7 

f 7'^" Bed Tick 5 

f S"'^ Chambray 4 

The price paid to women for winding yarn on bobbins for 
warping, is 5 cents per score of hanks, equal to Is. sterling for 
5 spindles. 

Price of cotton yarn at this date, No. 14. 30 cents per lb. 
rising 1 cent per No. to No. 18. and H cents per No. above 
that. Cotton wool has however fallen considerably since then, 
which will liave an effect in lowering the price of yarn. 
o 2 



... or 


2id. 


... or 


2|d. 


... or 


3id 


... or 


5^d. 


... or 


4d. 


... or 


2|d. 


... or 


2^d. 



160 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

Prices of dyeing a good dark blue .25 cents (13|d.) per lb. 
Do. do. light do. .12^ — ( 6|d.) — 

Do. Bengal Indigo, ... 3 dollars, (13s. 6d.) — 
Do. Carolina, do. 87 to 100 cents (4s. to 4s. 6d.) — 

There can be little danger that the prices paid 
for weaving will fall, so as that an average weaver 
may not earn one dollar per day, as I have already 
stated ; there being always plenty of work to be 
obtained in other parts of the country which is 
about as well paid. Even as the matter stands, 
there are many weavers, who (whether through 
whim or a love of variety,) work at canal digging 
in preference to weaving in summer. There are 
several undertakings of this nature going on ir 
different quarters ; one between Philadelphia and 
Baltimore gives employment to a great number of 
hands. The workmen at this canal are paid four- 
teen to sixteen dollars (£3 3s. to ^3 12s.) per month, 
are boarded and lodged and have an allowance of 

It has often been asked in Scotland, why do so 
many people who emigrate to America return home 
in disgust, as soon as they have it in their power ? 
It may be answered that such persons have seldom 
given it a fair trial, they meet with disappoint- 
ments, difficulties, and perhaps sickness in Ameri- 
ca as well as in Scotland, and there is something 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 161 

in mankind which upholds them in the hour of dis- 
tress at home, whilst they are very apt to become 
desponding and melancholy in a land of strangers. 
Avery slight degree of sickness is magnified into a 
dangerous fever, and that inextinguishable love of 
" sweet home," which can never be entirely eradi- 
cated from the breast of a genuine Scotsman, but 
serves the more to aggravate his distress, and per- 
plex his mind with anxiety and unnecessary alarm. 
A great many come out to America, in the idea 
that they will find every thing ready to their hand; 
but a man arriving there without some little capi- 
tal, must expect to work very hard indeed for the 
first few years. If in the farming line, unless a man 
can purchase a lot of land w^ith a few acres already 
cleared, he must be prepared to encounter much 
hardship and privation. I can conceive nothing 
more disheartening to an emigrant weaver, for ex- 
ample, than to put an axe into his hand, take him 
into an almost boundless forest, and say " here are 
an hundred acres of land for you, but you must 
find your breakfast and dinner wherever you can, 
and get your land cleared as quick as you may.** 
On a man who has been immured all his life in a 
loom shop in Scotland, the summer sun of Ameri- 
ca has a powerful effect, and a shuttle is a much 
more tangible instrument, than a felling axe or a 
o 8 



162 SIX years' residence 

spade. I have known several who emigrated to 
Canada and the United States, who returned to 
their native country after trifling for a month or 
two, but could not set their hearts to the clearing 
business. It requires much perseverance and 
steadiness ; and although the beneficial efl'ects of 
industry applied in this manner does not manifest 
itself all at once, yet, the continued application to 
his calling for a few years at first, ensures to the 
emigrant, a competency at all events, and compara- 
tive ease for the remainder of his existence. Every 
stroke of the axe, tells, either to himself or his 
posterity. 

Many who came to America, with as much as 
would place them in some comfortable way in the 
country, are too lavish, both of their time and their 
money in the port they arrive at, by listening to 
different accounts of eligible situations in opposite 
parts of the country. A person proposing to set- 
tle in America, if he has no friends previously do- 
miciled in some part of the country, should deter- 
mine firmly in his own mind his future abode, and 
listen to neither one story nor another regarding 
prosperous settlements. The fact is, that the 
generality of people in the large towns of America, 
know as little of the matter as himself, excepting 
what they may have derived from printed accounts 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 163 

accessible to every one. The sooner an emigrant 
is out of town the better, and should he want the 
means or inclination of setting out for some of the 
back western States, there is yet plenty of good 
land to be had in the western parts of Pennsylva- 
nia or New York. The Erie canal runs through 
a rich country for three hundred and sixty miles, 
the access is easy from New York, and land on the 
banks of this canal must yearly increase in value. 
In different parts, especially of Pennsylvania, there 
are many proprietors of land who make a bargain 
with any person who has been accustomed to farm- 
ing, on these conditions : The proprietor builds a 
convenient house on the land, provides farming 
utensils, horses, &c. also seed for the ground ; in 
consideration of this, he receives one half of all 
produce raised on the land. This is certainly a very 
fair opening to a man of industrious habits, who 
may arrive in America with little or no money, 
and it is wholly unattended with any risk. 

An industrious man who can pay his expenses 
to America, and have .^100, or even .^50 in his 
pocket on his arrival there, may, in a very few 
years, be the proprietor of a small farm, provided 
he is saving, and commences operations in one 
shape or other immediately upon his arrival there. 
There are, however, in America, thousands of 



164 SIX years' residence 

farmers and mechanics who arrived out literally 
without a dollar in their pocket, and are now pos- 
sessed of considerable property. 

In the ship Camillus, by which vessel I went out 
to New York in 1822, amongst a number of emi- 
grants, there was one family from the Highlands, 
which were, by a happy combination of circum- 
stances, particularly calculated to do well in Ame- 
rica. The head of the family was a man about 
forty-six years of age, strong and healthy ; he was 
a good practical farmer, as far as could be ex- 
pected from a cultivator of the land in the wild 
district of country to which he belonged. A per- 
son, however, of this description, is perhaps better 
adapted to the bringing in of the new lands in 
America, than a first rate farmer from the Lo- 
thians, or the Carse of Gowrie. Mere physical 
strength, and a competent share of perseverance 
being more particularly called for than the refine- 
ments of agriculture. He was also a good black- 
smith ; and moreover, preached occasionally, as I 
understood from himself, belonging to the society 
of Baptists. His family consisted of a wife and 
nine children ; several of them stout young men and 
women. To sum up all, he had property with him 
to the amount of ^^400 or .^500 sterling, and was 
going to a part of the country (Logan County in 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 165 

Kentucky) where a brother of his had been 
settled for some years. He was quite aware of 
the long and fatiguing journey he had to under- 
take, before arriving at his proposed residence ; 
but seemed no way dismayed, being confident, 
that independence and plenty would finally crown 
his exertions. Such a family as this is, beyond 
all doubt, a great acquisition to any of the young 
States of America. Indeed, by taking the proba- 
bilities of human life into view, we may not err 
greatly in supposing, that this man's descendants, 
in the course of little more than a century hence, 
may, in all likelihood, be sufficient to form a com- 
plete colony of their own. 

In wandering through the magnificent forests of 
America, I have often been tempted to exclaim 
with Westmoreland, in the play, " Oh ! that we 
had but some ten thousand of those men in Eng- 
land that do no work to-day." I would not, 
however, have it understood, that my feelings 
would be at all gratified in beholding the artizans 
and peasantry of my native country swarming to a 
foreign land for want of employment and bread. 
The heart of every patriot must bleed at the idea 
of losing the strength and the stamina of our coun- 
try ; but the philanthropist, or the citizen of the 
world, must view the matter in another light. 



166 SIX years' residence 

Who that has ever beheld the woe-begone and 
languid looks of thousands of our poor industrious 
weavers wandering in a time of depression, (and that, 
alas ! has been but too often the case within these 
last twenty years) from warehouse to warehouse, 
without receiving any work, or at the best, such as 
would barely enable them to keep soul and body to- 
gether: who, let it be asked, has ever contemplated 
the distressed situation of such, without casting 
their eyes to the broad fields and boundless forests 
of Canada, and the United States, where, if many 
of these willing and able men were once set down, 
they would at least be in no want of that sustenance 
which, through whatever unfortunate combination 
of circumstances, their own land seems to deny 
them ? Let any one figure to himself a distressed, 
spiritless, broken-hearted and famishing mechanic, 
going unsuccessfully from place to place, to beg 
" his brother man for leave to toil," as our im- 
mortal Burns feelingly expresses it, and, on the 
other hand, imagine to himself that same poor fel- 
low (provided he is a single man) set down even 
without a penny in his pocket in any civilised part 
of America, if not the veriest sloth on the earth's 
surface, he will find honest employment in some 
shape or other; and although at once he does not 
realise any of the golden day-dreams of far distant 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 167 

lands, which may have crossed his imagination at 
home, yet a very short time vv^ill convince him, 
that he has exchanged a state of starvation and 
dependence to that of comfort and comparative 
freedom ; comparative, I say, because, if a man's 
ideas on this score extend to absolute unqualified 
liberty in its simplest meaning, I suspect that he 
must turn Indian, and roam the woods for game, 
which profession (next to that' of being a gentle- 
man !) is the most unprofitable of any in America, 
except in a few particular spots. 

It seems not to consist with the " fitness of 
things," but that there must always exist more or 
less of the feeling of dependence in the mind of 
the employed towards his employer, although in 
America there is perhaps less of this feeling actu- 
ally existing, than what is absolutely necessary 
towards the speedy and efficient forwarding of va- 
rious branches of labour and manufacture. The 
word master is hardly or never used in America 
by servants or workmen of any description. Boss 
is the emphatic, but apparently unmeaning, term 
made use of upon all occasions. 



168 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER XII. 

DELAWARE— TRENTON BRIDGE, RAPIDS, &C. — STEAM-BOATS ON DE- 
LAWARE — BURLINGTON — BRISTOL — SICKNESS AT DO APPEAR- 
ANCE OF BRISTOL AND SURROUNDING COUNTRY — INSECTS — FIRE 
FLY — BIRDS — SNAKES. 

The Delaware at Philadelphia is fully a mile wide, 
and deep enough to float a ship of the line. Some 
fine vessels have been built at the navy yard. 
There is now one on the stocks of 150 guns ; 
she is round in the stern. A fine 64 gun ship 
was built in a private builder's ship yard in 1825, 
for the Columbian government : she was not alto- 
gether twelve months on the stocks. 

The Delaware is navigable for sloops to Trenton, 
thirty-five miles above Philadelphia, and nearly 
two hundred miles farther for large boats. At 
Trenton, which is the capital of New Jersey, there 
is a fine bridge over the river, built after the plan 
of the lower one at Philadelphia. This town 
is pleasantly situated, and there are several 
large spinning and power weaving factories esta- 
blished in it. The view from the bridge, up the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 169 

river, is very beautiful. For about one-half of a 
mile upwards, the water runs very rapidly over a 
bed of rocks, leaving only a very narrow and in- 
tricate winding channel for boats to pass. In de- 
scending these rapids, great care and attention is 
indispensable in the steersman. Boats containing 
sometimes four hundred barrels of flour pass al- 
most daily in safety. Accidents, however, occa- 
sionally take place. In returning, the boats are 
often empty; but it requires great exertion and 
patience to get them pushed against the stream. 
The boats are very long and narrow. A man at 
each side takes an oar, and commencing at the 
head of the boat, with the oars pressing against the 
ground, keeps pushing away until they come as far 
as the middle of the boat, when they remain 
steady, and two others perform the same opera- 
tion until they arrive close to their comrades. 
They, in this manner, alternately relieve one ano- 
ther, until they have gained their point. This ope- 
ration generally occupies several hours ; and puts 
both their patience and metal to the proof; espe- 
cially as it has sometimes happened, that the hold- 
ers on have accidentally slipt their oars, which, 
of course, sends the whole establishment down the 
stream much more speedily than they can ever get 
up. Some parts of the Delaware above this are 
p 



170 SIX years' residence 

so deep, and the banks so very steep, that their 
boat poles will not reach the bottom : in this case, 
they keep close to the shore, and drag themselves 
along, by taking hold of the bushes which grow 
on the bank. 

Some of the steam-boats on the Delaware are 
large, and elegantly fitted up. There is no dis- 
tinction between the cabin and steerage ; only the 
fore-cabin is appropriated for smoking and drink- 
ing. In general, the passengers are civil and 
conversable, but the system of having only one 
price, and no separation betwixt cabin and steer- 
age passengers, although perfectly consistent with 
American notions of liberty and equality, is not 
altogether at times so very pleasant even to Ame- 
ricans of the more polished ranks. Although the 
literally " base vulgar" usually keep in the fore 
part of the boat, you will occasionally find a few 
of them intrude themselves amongst the Nabob 
part of the company, to the no small dissatisfac- 
tion of the fair sex especially. Considering the 
attention that is paid to the comfort of the passen- 
gers in general, in American steam-boats, it is 
very remarkable that neither books nor newspa- 
pers are to be found on board. Some of these 
boats sail with great speed. I have been repeat- 
edly conveyed from Burlington to Philadelphia on 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 171 

board the steam-boat Trenton, a distance of twen- 
ty miles, in one hour and twenty-eight minutes. 
This is an elegant vessel, and is very handsomely 
fitted up : she has two boilers on a new construc- 
tion, one placed at each side of the deck, over- 
hanging the water, and built in such a manner, 
that in case of bursting, their contents would be 
completely thrown overboard. It may be remark- 
ed, that on board the American steam-boats, al- 
most the whole of the machinery appears working 
above deck. 

There seems to be something radically wrong 
on board the majority of American steam-boats, 
either in bad management, or in the imperfect 
construction of the machinery. Not a season has 
passed since these vessels have been brought into 
operation, in which some disastrous accident has 
not taken place, in some cases attended with the 
loss of twenty or thirty lives. It is certainly owing 
in a great measure to carelessness. The fare 
from Philadelphia to Burlington is only twenty- 
five cents (13jd.) 

Burlington, which was anciently the capital of 
New Jersey, is situated on the Delaware, twen- 
ty miles above Philadelphia. It is a cleanly 
town, with spacious streets, spreading over a large 
tract of ground in proportion to its population. 
2 p 



172 

On the opposite, or Pennsylvania side, stands 
the beautiful town of Bristol, which, at one time, 
was greatly resorted to, on account of its mineral 
waters, and healthy situation. It was, however, 
very sickly in 1825, as I knew, by sad experience, 
— my wife, our two little children, my sister, and 
myself, being all sick at the same time ; some of 
us having the typhus fever, and the rest the fever 
and ague : finally, the servants, one after another, 
were attacked with the ague, and a more melan- 
choly assemblage of sick people could hardly be 
found in one habitation. At this period, not one 
single house in the borough of Bristol, including 
a population of about fourteen hundred souls, 
escaped death or sickness. The most dangerous 
disease which raged was dysentery, which yearly 
commits great ravages either amongst the old or 
young inhabitants of America. Bristol, for about 
twenty-seven years previous to this season, was 
reckoned extremely healthy ; but amongst all these 
diseases, even the yellow fever broke out, — a brig 
which came up to this place having brought the 
infection from St Domingo. About eight or ten 
people fell victims to it ; but being in an open 
country town, and people on their guard to avoid 
the houses it broke out in, it at last died away as 
the cool weather set in. Had the fever broke out 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 1*73 

in like manner in the crowded city of Philadel- 
phia, the consequences would have been terrible, 
fortunately, the whole of our family recovered 
from the sickness of 1825 ; but some farm houses 
within a mile of Bristol were almost swept clean 
of their inmates, by the unrelenting hand of 
death. 

The appearance of Bristol from the water is 
quite delightful; many handsome houses, orna- 
mented with lofty porticos, being arranged along 
the bank (which rises here considerably) for the 
space of about half a mile. Like most of the 
country towns in America, the streets are planted 
on each side with fine shady trees. The clean 
white painted houses, with green blinds, half hid 
from view by the intervening foliage, present a 
lively and cheerful aspect ; and unlike too many 
of our Scotish villages, the streets are not dis- 
figured by abominable accumulations of filth. 

A stranger, in passing through a country town 
in America, whether riding or on foot, is not an- 
noyed with a score of dogs yelling at his heels, or 
a colony of gaping children, and ill-bred bump- 
kins staring him out of countenance. 

The Americans, either in town or country, are 
extremely polite in pointing out the way to a tra- 
veller, and he need be under no apprehension of 
P 3 



1T4 SIX years' residence 

receiving such saucy and rude answers as the in- 
habitants of some parts of our own country are too 
much in the habit of giving. 

The country around this place is very beautiful, 
the orchards abounding in peaches, apples, plums, 
and other fruits. The woods in summer are over- 
run with cherries, bramble-berries, huckle-berries, 
(which are exactly like our blaeberries in Scot- 
land, but only the bushes are a little taller,) dew 
berries, &c. Grapes of various kinds grow wild 
in almost all the woods over America. Lately, 
they have been successfully cultivated in some 
parts of Pennsylvania, and excellent wine made 
of them. In perambulating the woods and fields 
of America, I have sometimes for a few moments 
indulged myself in the idea, that I was in " puir 
auld Scotia," until speedily undeceived by the ap- 
pearance of the shrubs, flowers, and trees around 
me, even the very appearance of " nature's car- 
pet" was manifestly different. I looked in vain for 
the " lang yellow broom," the " bonny blooming 
heather," the " sweet scented hawthorn," the " mo- 
dest wee gowan," the violet, the cowslip, and the 
primrose, all of which are awanting in American 
scenery. Their absence, however, is perhaps 
more than compensated in the eye of any but a 
Scotsman, by the luxuriant and magnificent ap- . 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 175 

pearance of a variety of plants which adorn the 
forests of Ameriea. Being no botanist, I am at a 
loss to describe these, only I recollect of seeing 
wild geraniums of the height of four or hwe feet in 
the State of New York. In some parts of South 
Carolina, the woods and fields are overrun with 
jessamine and myrtle, the perfume of which is de- 
lightful ; and although, in many instances, the 
flowers and shrubs of America have not the ex- 
quisite fragrance of European flowers, yet I think 
that I never experienced any thing so deliciously 
overpowering to the senses, as the evening breeze 
wafted from a garden of orange trees in full blos- 
som in the environs of Charleston ; the well known 
fra^^rance arising from a field of beans in full bloom, 
after a shower of rain, has a pretty close resem- 
blance to the perfume of the orange blossom. A 
person taking a walk in the country, who may feel 
inclined to eat an apple, makes little scruple of 
going over a fence, and helping himself, but there 
are few who carry this point of equality to a very 
great length ; at least, it is considered rather ill- 
bred to go into a man's orchard near to his own 
house. You may look long enough around you 
before you espy a board warning you that man- 
traps and spring-guns are set, or threatening you 
with a prosecution for trespassing. 



176 SIX years' residence 

The most general crops are wheat, buck -wheat, 
rye, Indian corn and clover, of which very heavy 
crops are raised. Many of the fields are overrun 
with garlic, which imparts a disagreeable flavour 
to the flour, &c. Oats are raised in small quan- 
tities in the New England States, but have little 
substance in them, the summer heat bringing them 
up too quick. I have, however, tasted tolerably 
good oat meal, which was raised in Vermont, and 
I may mention b}^ the way, that I never saw a com- 
mon reaping hook used in America, saving in Ver- 
mont. A few oats are sown in Carolina, to cut 
for feeding cattle. 

Vegetation proceeds with astonishing celerity in 
America, owing to the continual heat both night 
and day in summer ; as an instance of which, I 
may state, that I have partaken of good buck- 
wheat cakes made from the produce of grain, 
which was sown only seven weeks and a few days 
previously. Clover generally produces a luxuriant 
crop in Pennsylvania. An immense quantity of 
seed is raised from this article. From a small 
field containing two and a quarter acres, which I 
rented, in the neighbourhood of Bristol, I cut 
four tons of excellent hay at the first cutting, which 
was at the latter end of May ; and about one-third 
part as much in six weeks afterwards; after 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 



17'7 



which, I turned out a cow to graze upon it. This 
hay I sold at nine dollars, (40s. 6d.) per ton. 
Two years previous to this, hay was so high 
as thirty dollars per ton, (£6 15s.) which was 
considered extravagant. In walking out to the 
fields on a hot day, one would be led to ima- 
gine that the whole earth beneath his feet was 
in motion ; the ground absolutely swarms with in- 
sects of every description, particularly grasshoppers 
and a small kind of locust. Throughout the whole 
night there is an incessant noise and chirping, 
caused by a variety of reptiles and insects, which 
is sufficient to deprive a stranger of sleep until a 
little accustomed to it, when it is not by any means 
disao-reeable, but rather serves to enliven the dull 
monotony of the country. In this quarter of Ameri- 
ca, musquitoes are by no means very troublesome, 
excepting near to a swamp, — they are at least not 
considered so annoying as to require the use of 
gauze curtains as in Carolina. At night, the spark- 
ling of the fire-fly forms an interesting object to 
foreigners ; these insects are about the size of, and 
have much the appearance of the common fly ; the 
luminous appearance is emitted, not from under the 
wings of these insects, but rather from the abdo- 
men; they are much smaller than the fire-fly of the 
West Indies, 



178 SIX years' residence 

After sunset, the noise of the bull frog is ahnost 
deafening in some parts of the country. This reptile 
well deserves the name bestowed upon it; in its 
appearance it is very forbidding and sluggish in its 
actions. I never saw any of this species larger 
than about the size of a person's hands placed to- 
gether. An insect well known by the name of the 
kitty-did, produces an incessant but cheerful 
noise. 

In spring, great flocks of blackbirds visit Penn- 
sylvania ; they are much more beautiful than 
our blackbird, the upper part of the wings and 
shoulders being of a rich crimson colour; but their 
note is much inferior to that of the British species. 
There are several varieties of the wood-pecker ; 
and that delightful little creature the humming 
bird, is very common in summer, darting like light- 
ning from flower to flower. 

There are a considerable number of serpents 
and snakes to be found, sometimes even in well 
cultivated fields. I once killed a snake in my own 
garden, of a species considered as dangerous as 
the rattlesnake. I was sitting in a piazza in front 
of my dwelling, in a glowing hot summer forenoon, 
reading a newspaper, when a loud scream from the 
garden attracted my attention. Before I could well 
look round me, the hired girl, a fine strapping 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 179 

Pennsylvanian lass of nearly six feet, appeared be- 
fore me in a most vvoful panic, exclaiming, " Oh 
mercy ! my ! my ! what shall I do Mr N. I've al- 
most trampled upon a copperhead, do for heaven's 
sake go and kill it." I walked a few yards, and 
peeping over the fence, saw a most beautiful varie- 
gated-looking snake, coiled up in three or four 
folds with its head erected about six inches from 
the ground, busily employed in thrusting out and 
in its tongue or sting, I immediately laid hold of a 
hatchet w^hich was laying close by, and stretching 
out my arm over the fence, let fall the axe upon 
it, which instantly set it a twisting itself in fifty 
directions ; I then went into the garden, and with 
the assistance of a long stick threw it into the 
public road, when some of my neighbours comino- 
past, told me very gravely that I must cut it into 
seven pieces, and bury each in a separate hole. I 
contented myself however by cutting it with the 
axe, and made one hole serve for its grave. Ever 
after this circumstance, I could not feel exactly 
satisfied to lie dow^n on any grass walk in the gar- 
den, and enjoy myself in reading as I used often 
to do before this. 

' The viper is considered a dangerous animal. 
I have killed them frequently in the woods with 
a stick. There are also many black snakes, but 



180 SIX years' residence 

these are not venomous ; they kill their prey in 
the same manner as the boa-constrictor. Acci- 
dents sometimes happen to young cattle from those 
of a large size. I never encountered any of these 
of a larger size than five feet in length, but some 
of them exhibited considerable " fight" with a dog 
I had with me until shot. Black snakes of seven 
or eight feet in length have been seen in Pennsyl- 
vania, but these are very uncommon. 

A gentleman who is a respectable store-keeper 
in New York, and whose word I had no reason 
to doubt, informed me, that when he was a boy 
of sixteen years of age, being on a visit to a 
relation on the Katskill mountains, he one day 
went out for the purpose of shooting rabbits and 
squirrels ; having got as far as three or four miles 
amongst the mountains, he unexpectedly encount- 
ered a large black snake. He immediately turned 
round and attempted to make his escape down the 
hill, pursued by the snake. He heard the sound 
of its motion behind him, and exerted his utmost 
speed, until at length being quite exhausted, he 
turned round in despair and gave fire ; most for- 
tunately for him, the animal was mortally wounded, 
and being afterwards measured, w^as found to be 
eight feet and a half long, and nearly as thick as 
a man's leg. Such an animal could easily crush 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 181 

any man to death ; if I may judge from the speci- 
men of smaller ones I have seen, their muscular 
strength is very great. 

Rattlesnakes are to be found in almost every 
State of North America, but they generally fre- 
quent desolate and rocky regions. Children about 
the country seem to have little dread of the com- 
mon kind of snakes, school boys frequently going 
about in the woods without shoes, and they will 
seize a small black snake by the tail and give it a 
sudden jerk, which operation readily kills them. 



182 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER XIII. 

COUNTRY JUSTICES, ATTORNEYS, AND DOCTORS — TYPHUS FEVER- 
AGUE AND FEVER — NOTIONS OF EQUALITY — METHODISTS AND 
CAMP MEETINGS — CLIMATE OF PENNSYLVANIA— DRINKING COLD 
WATER— COUNTRY WORK DONE BY MEN— MUSIC, &C. — LIBERTY 
POLES — VISIT OF LA-FAYETTE. 

In the country towns of America, there are generally 
two or three justices of the peace, and an attorney 
or two. These justices or judges, (in fact, they are 
both judge and jury) as may well be imagined, are 
not men who have much law at their finger ends. 
In almost all cases they subsist chiefly by following 
some mechanical trade, and not unfrequently the 
dio-nity of village "Squire" is conjoined with the 
more humble but probably as useful occupation of 
carpenter or shoemaker. They most commonly 
o-ive a verdict in favour of the plaintiff. It is well 
worth one's while to attend one of these courts. 
Little reverence indeed is shown at times to the 
bench or council, and the plaintiff and defendant 
are sometimes at the point of a battle-royal before 
the court door. The laws here give too much 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 183 

encouragement to petty suits, and the most trivial 
occurrences give occasion to a prosecution. The 
low pettifogging tricks practised by many of the 
lawyers and justices, are only equalled by their 
want of information and arrogance ; some of the 
latter can hardly sign their name, and as for ortho- 
graphy, few of them know the meaning of the 
word. 

To illustrate the matter, I may mention an oc- 
currence or two, which took place within the scope 
of my own observation. My family having suffer- 
ed much from the ague, and receiving no relief 
from the principal doctor in the village, I was in- 
formed by a neighbour, that a quaker doctor who 
resided a few miles in the country, was much famed 
for curing the ague, and made a rule of charging 
nothing if unsuccessful ; in despair almost, I ap- 
plied to this infallible physician, but in case of 
mistakes made an agreement, that he should not 
charge me over five dollars even if successful. After 
a few visits from this gentleman, I found matters 
getting v/orse, as he evidently displayed the utmost 
ignorance of his profession ; and the whole of his 
secret seemed to consist in administering most un- 
conscionable doses of common charcoal to my wife, 
who was his chief patient. Being apprehensive that 
this mode of treatment would end in nothing good, 
S 2 



184 SIX* years' residence 

I gave him as civil a hint as possible, that no more 
of his medicine would be swallowed. A few days 
after this, without first demanding it, (but this 
ceremony is often omitted in this law-encouraging 
country,) he sent me an account through the hands 
of a constable for fifteen dollars ; and this appen- 
dage of justice delivered me a summons at the same 
time, to appear before the " Squire." Being well 
aware that I would receive any thing but fair play 
at such a court, (for I had observed previously, 
that a verdict is almost invariably given against a 
stranger, especially if he be defendant,) I took a 
young lawyer along with me, and upon our enter- 
ing the court, found the justice with my friend the 
doctor, each seated upon a chair with their legs 
upon another, smoking most socially. The justice 
having called the case, handed me a copy of the 
account, and merely asked if the doctor had at- 
tended upon my family. Having assented to this, 
he said, " Why, then, what is the use of saying any 
more about it? I will enter judgment against you." 
" Not so fast, friend, answered I," if you please; this 
gentleman agreed to charge me a much less sum than 
what is specified in his account, even if he had ful- 
filled his engagement, and I can bring you witnes- 
ses in a few minutes, who can bear ample testimony 
to the truth of this. " No, no," said his honour, " I 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 185 

want no proof whatever, my mind was made up on 
the subject yesterday/* My friend the lawyer at- 
tempted to say a few words, but without effect. 
Having left the office, I said to the young attorney, 
" And must I really be obliged to pay such an ex- 
orbitant charge with expenses to this rascally 
quack, for a few ounces of charcoal. I would much 
rather give it to the hospital in Philadelphia. Is 
there no remedy ?" The young gentleman having 
then mused a little, said, " Why I can easily put 
you on a plan of at least keeping that fellow out of 
the money for a few years ; I will enter an appeal 
for you to the court at Doyleston, (the capital of 
the county,) and appear for you at the proper 
time, as you mention that you intend removing to 
Carolina in winter, so you can just pay me the 
money, and I guess it will cost him some trouble 
to take it out of my fingers.'* No one can ap- 
preciate talents and honourable feeling in gentle- 
men of the profession of physic, more than myself; 
and I do think, that they are truly deserving of a 
fair and just recompence for their services; but to 
suffer such imposition from a quack, merely be- 
cause I was a Scotsman, went against my con- 
science, so of two evils I chose what I deemed the 
least, and paid over the amount to the young law- 
yer, leaving him and the infallible doctor to settle 
2 3 



186 SIX years' residence 

the matter at their convenience. I am thus parti- 
cular on this subject, as it may serve to show how 
matters are conducted here in law affairs. 

I recollect a circumstance which afforded me not 
a little amusement. It was the case of a young man 
of the village, who got " half seas over" one day, 
and either through mischief or accident had shot 
an honest woman^s pig ; she had him instantly ar- 
rested and brought before one of the justices. As 
near as I can remember^ the following colloquy 
took place. The judge was a quaker and a me- 
chanic. 

Justice. Well, Jane, what hast thee to say against 
neighbour Bill, here ? 

Plaintiffs Say ! why Tve too much to say about 
the waggabone; would you believe it, the good-for- 
nothing fellow has killed my pig, without no man- 
ner of provocation. 

Justice. And did thee not want thy pig slain, 
friend Jane ? 

Plaintiff, No, I guess my pig would have fed 
five hundred weight come Christmas. I calculate 
I had good feed for the poor thing; but that there 
Bill, the low fellor, shot him. I guess he would be 
none the worse of a good spanking with a clever 
stick. 

Justice, Peace, Jane, peace, we shall find law for 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 187 

thee, we shall find law for thee, woman, I say ; but 
be not violent agahist Bill. Why did thee slay 
that pig of Jane's, Bill ? 

Bill. Why, Squire, I expect that I was shooting 
at a mark on the fence, when that dar'nt porker 
poked his nose too near the mouth of my rifle, and 
I being slewed a bit, I guess he was shot. 

Justice. Why then. Bill, you must pay Jane the 
price of the pig, and two dollars damages besides 
the expense of court. 

Bill. No, Sammy, no, 'nation sink me if I do 
pay a cent of damages. I guess I must pay for the 
porker, but hang me, Sammy, if ever I take a 
shoe from you in my Hfe if you talk of damages. I 
calculate I'll get them cheaper at all events from 
John B. 

Justice. Now, friend Jane, since Bill has confess- 
ed his mistake, you must let him pass this time 
free of damages. I guess Bill will treat. 

Bill. Why, Sammy, I vow that's clever. I'll treat, 

I swear I will ; come over to Bill S n's tavern, 

and I calculate we'll have some good sling there, 
and fix our matters.* 

* It may perhaps not be out of place here, to explain a few 
American terms, some of which occur in these pages, and are 
not generally understood in Britain. 
Slick. Quickly, smartly, instantly. 
Slewed. Tipsy. 



188 SIX years' residence 

In the country there are some doctors who have 
received a good education; but many of them know 

Sling. Gin-toddy. 

Clever. Good, smart, well dressed or handsome j rich, when 
applied to young ladies. 

To fix. To adjust, settle, to clean, to mend. 

Doos do it. Does it. 

What say. Instead of Ma'am or Sir, when not properly un- 
derstood. 

A Spanking. A good beating. 

Vext. Angry, disappointed. 

To Cascade. To Vomit. 

Saas. Any kind of vegetables when eat with meat. 

Long saas. Carrots, parsnips, beet. 

Short saas. Turnips, potatoes, cranberries or apples, when 
stewed with sugar are eat with any kind of butcher meat 
or fowls, and called saas. 

To Guess or Calculate. Signifies to surmise, to think. 

Right away. Straitway, immediately. 

Good feed. Good eatables. 

Feed store. Marked above such shops as sell corn, &c. as 
fodder for cattle. 

To Pump or to be pumped, seems to be a punishment indigen- 
ous to America. When an individual has rendered himself 
particularly obnoxious to the public, by espousing some very 
unpopular system of politics, he is forcibly laid hold of, and 
taken to one of the public pump wells, and held under the 
spout, while some of the citizens pump water upon their vic- 
tim until in some cases he has almost expired. I would by 
no means wish to rip up " old sores," but, at the same time, 
I could cite various instances which occurred during the 
late American war, when some of my countrymen were 
most inhumanly treated by the moh, merely on account of 
their being Scotsmen, and not perhaps altogether prudent 
in publicly avowing their principles in political affairs. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 189 

very little of Anatomy, Chemistry, or Botany, and 
some of them are mere empirics. They however do not 
cause near so much mischief as might be supposed, 
confining their " method us medendi" to the most 
simple medicines. Some of these practitioners al- 
ways carry about a small assortment of drugs with 
them in their waggon or gig, and this is of consid- 
erable advantage to the country people in some 
parts, who are at a distance from any apothecary. 
Upon the whole, illiterate as many of these doctors 
are, still they are a benefit to the country in gene- 
ral. The diseases most common here, are inter- 
mittent fevers and ague ; the great panacea for 
which seems to be peruvian barks with occasional 
doses of calomel, which is given in very large 
quantities. A dangerous fever prevailed in 1825, 
of which I had an opportunity of observing the 
treatment of some cases. This typhusTever, as it 
was denominated, differed materially from the 
typhus fever of Glasgow. The patient in general, 
at the commencement of the attack, was seized 
with incessant bilious vomiting, succeeded by great 
prostration of strength, accompanied with a slow 
and feeble pulse, the heat of the skin being about 
108 to 110. In one particular instance, after three 
or four days of almost continued vomiting, the pa- 
tient received, for five or six days, repeated doses 



190 SIX years' residence 

of calomel and jalap, forty grains of calomel were 
given at one dose more than once ; a large blister 
was then applied to the back of the neck. At this 
period the patient was almost unconscious of any 
thing, his eyesight and sense of hearing being for 
several days almost utterly gone. About the 12th 
or 13th day, an evident alteration for the better 
having taken place, the doctor then told the pa- 
tient, he must now commence the recruiting system ; 
and accordingly ordered him to take every morn- 
ing, a large bowl of milk fresh from the cow, mix- 
ed with nearly a gill of brandy and some sugar, 
and the same repeated in the evening, which gene- 
rally induced sleep. This mixture is called milk 
punch. Port wine and porter, with soup, &c. as 
often as the patient Telt inclined, completed the 
treatment in this case. 

The fever and ague prevail every season in a 
lesser or greater degree throughout the whole of 
the low country in America. 

There are many ponds which spread over a 
large space of land in winter, and the water re- 
ceding in summer, leaves a large portion of mud 
and vegetable matter, which speedily putrifies, and 
saturates the atmosphere with unwholesome va- 
pour. An almost insufferable stench is felt in pass- 
ing these ponds in very hot weather. Until the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 191 

country is completely under cultivation, and the 
whole of these ponds drained, the ague will con- 
tinue to prevail in spite of every precaution. This 
disease being very common, and but seldom prov- 
ing fatal, is not much dreaded by many of the 
country people. Some of them regard it with 
seeming indifference, frequently returning for an- 
swer to an inquiry regarding their health, " Oh ! 
pretty tolerably well upon an average; only a 
touch of the ague once in a while." Some people 
who have been subject to this complaint periodi- 
cally, are aware of the particular days on which 
they expect an attack, and prepare accordingly. 
The sulphate of quinine, a newly invented and 
very expensive medicine, has lately been intro- 
duced with seeming effect. The price of this me- 
dicine on its first appearance in America, was four 
hundred dollars (.^90) per pound. I knew many 
cases, where a dose of this medicine taken every 
tenth day, completely protected the patient from 
an attack; but if through inadvertence, the medi- 
cine was not taken on the critical day, the patient 
was sure to have a very violent attack. This dis- 
ease is a complete scourge in many places of Ame- 
rica ; it greatly undermines the constitution, and 
lays the way open for other diseases. I have seen 
a whole family afflicted with it, from the infant of 



192 

three months old to the sage of three score and 
ten. Some of the country doctors pretend to cure 
it by charms; and I have seen many a person who 
had, by their direction, gone alone to a certain 
tree, tied a cord to it, and going round it several 
times, repeating certain cabalistical words, return- 
ed home sound, (as they assured me,) not, how- 
ever, without communicating their disease to the 
tree, which never flourished afterwards. In this 
respect, as well as in the affairs of spectres, the 
country people are very superstitious ; and even 
in the enlightened city of New York, large houses 
have been pointed out to me as being tenantless, 
on account of being haunted, although offered at 
little or no rent. 

A great number of the people in Pennsylvania 
being quakers, their manners are consequently 
quite primitive ; some of those, who can even af- 
ford to keep a carriage, breakfasting and dining in 
the same apartment w^ith their servants when with- 
out company. This system of liberty is sometimes 
carried to a most preposterous length. I have al- 
ready mentioned, that manufacturers here generally 
board a number of their w^orkmen in their houses, 
and as the custom is for them to sit at the same ta- 
ble with their employer, 1 felt somewhat inclined in 
my own case to dispense with this part of equali- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 193 

ty. As an instance, however, of the general feel- 
ing in this country on the subject, I may mention, 
that one evening as my family were sitting at tea 
with the clergyman of the place, and a few friends 
in company, an Irishman, whom I had employed 
for some time, and who lodged with me, came 
" right'' into the parlour, and going over to the 
sideboard, lifted a large decanter of spirits, and 
walked out, saying he wished to treat a hoy or two 
who were in the kitchen ! Sometime afterwards, 
this same fellow (and he was rather what the peo- 
ple in America would call a little bashful) left me 
at a day's warning, merely " hekase,^^ as he said, 
" I had scoulded him before the ladies one day on 
account of some mistake." These ladies were 
neither more nor less than two " hired girls" who 
were washing in the kitchen that day. 

Another instance of the general prevalence of ideas 
of equality may be quoted. You may often observe 
on board of a steam-boat, for example, a respect- 
able looking personage smoking his cigar on deck, 
when perhaps some common fellow^, such as Paul 
Pry would call a " rum customer," will approach 
this aforesaid smoking gentleman, and ask a light. 
I do not recollect of ever having seen this refused. 
The most genteel way to accommodate the person- 
age in want of " fire," as they term it, is to hand 

R 



194 SIX years' residence 

him the lighted cigar ; but I have oftener observed, 
that the person smoking will allow the other to 
apply the end of his cigar to the ignited part of 
his own, and then, by a mutual simultaneous puff 
or two on both sides, the desired object is effected. 

In many of the houses, the kitchen, in winter, 
is most usually converted into the dining-room, 
being warm and comfortable, and the floor cover- 
ed with what are called rag-carpets. These are 
manufactured in the following economical and sim- 
ple manner : all the old rags about house are care- 
fully laid aside by the American " gude wives," 
and sewed together in stripes, so as to make weft, 
or filling for a warp of hemp. 

In general, the people are civil to strangers, 
and in case of sickness, evince a good deal of 
warm-heartedness. 

The Quakers, like other denominations of 
Christians, attend meeting regularly, but the re- 
mainder of the day is not very scrupulously at- 
tended to, being considered partly as a day of re- 
creation. 

Methodists are to be found every where in 
America, and are greatly on the increase. Their 
preachers, although not men of polish or learning, 
are generally well-meaning citizens, and are ex- 
tremely desirous of making converts. This sect 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 195 

have certainly done great things, especially in the 
western country, where the Sabbath is little re- 
garded, the day being mostly spent in shooting, 
and other amusements. 

The Methodist camp meetings, which are held 
in various parts of the country every year, are 
scenes of quite a novel nature to a stranger. Some- 
times as many as ten thousand people assemble in 
the woods, from all parts of the country, accom- 
panied with chaises, waggons, &c. Tents, and 
every requisite accommodation, are to be had on 
the spot, and sometimes these holy fairs (for they 
are, in some respects, little else) last for six or 
seven days. 

Perhaps four or five preachers address different 
parts of the multitude at the same time, and these 
are relieved incessantly, night and day, until the 
meeting breaks up. As many persons go to these 
meetings out of mere amusement, some very cu- 
rious scenes occur as a matter of course ; but con- 
sidering the numbers assembled, much decency is 
preserved, lamps being kept burning during the 
night. 

These assemblies never break up without some 

wonderful instances of conversion. Sometimes the 

most obdurate and stubborn are suddenly seized 

with fits of enthusiasm, and fall down in a state of 

R 2 



196 SIX years' residence 

insensibility, in which they not unfrequently con- 
tinue for two or three hours, awakening as new 
creatures. Those who are thus seized with con- 
viction, and they consist of all ages and sexes, are 
immediately thrown aside into a sort of pen, or 
inclosure, where they remain until their conversion 
is completed, it being considered as striving with 
the spirit, to use any endeavours to rouse them 
out of this trance. It must be confessed, that 
some of these preachers are powerfully eloquent, 
especially in depicting the horrible state of the 
wicked, not unfrequently pointing out individuals 
in the crowd, whom the prince of darkness has 
got fast hold of. I have known instances of some 
hardened obstinate sinners who went to these meet- 
ings out of pure defiance to the preacher, and 
who, after fortifying themselves with a due quan- 
tum of grog, and in the firm determination of 
maintaining their ground against the artillery of 
the speaker, have actually either been so much 
convicted or appalled by the horrible dilemma in 
which the preacher described them as standing in, 
that although otherwise stalwart fellows, who 
could have marched undismayed to the cannon's 
mouth, they were fairly discomfited ; but no won- 
der, when thepreacher will occasionally point out, 
with the most determined composure, (surely this 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 19*7 

savours something of personality,) individuals who 
are damned to all intents and purposes. 

In Pennsylvania the heat is sometimes very op- 
pressive in summer. In Scotland, after a hot day, 
the night is always comparatively cool, there being 
few nights in the year in which the thermometer 
stands above 60; and from many years' observa- 
tions, it has never been so high as 70 during the 
whole night. At Philadelphia, in July, 1825, the 
thermometer averaged 92 at two o'clock, P. M. in 
a cool situation in the shade, in Chesnut Street, 
during the whole month. On two or three differ- 
ent days it was as high as 102. In the sun the 
thermometer stood at 136 to 140, several times 
during this month. The lowest point to which the 
mercury fell in the night time was 88. Such ex- 
cessive heat is very oppressive, and prevents the 
possibility of refreshing sleep. The musquitoes 
also at such times are exceedingly troublesome. 
I have often remarked, that in Scotland the heat 
feels more oppressive with the thermometer at 75, 
than when it stands at 85 in America; and in South 
Carolina, in a certain state of the atmosphere, I 
have felt the air quite cool, and even the sensation 
of cold, with the thermometer at 78 ! I have heard 
many make the same remark. It is generally ima- 
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198 SIX years' residence 

gined, that the constitution of a stranger undergoes 
a change after residing some time in America. 

In the summer of 1825, a great many accidents 
occurred, especially in New York and Philadel- 
phia, in consequence of the incautious drinking of 
cold water. There are always printed notices put 
up on the pumps, warning the inhabitants in regard 
to the bad effects produced by drinking cold water 
while in a state of perspiration ; but these notices 
are little attended to by the working people in gen- 
eral, who are the most likely to suffer from its ef- 
fects. I have seen a drayman stop his horse, on a 
broiling hot day, go over to the pump, (which he 
set agoing with one hand,) and apply his mouth to 
the spout. In 1825, the deaths occasioned in New 
York, in one week, from this cause, were above 
twenty. A considerable quantity of ice is used 
here in summer. There is hardly even a farmer 
in the country but must have his ice house. In 
Philadelphia, families may be regularly supplied 
every morning with this almost indispensable arti- 
cle, at so low a rate as about one cent a pound. 
In Charleston, (South Carolina,) where it must be 
imported from the Northern States, the price is 
from four to six cents, (2d. to 3d.) per lb. A 
great quantity of it is used, however, there. It is 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 199 

frequently sent two hundred miles up the country, 
rolled up m heavy English blankets ! 

In the country, the whole of the out-door work 
is performed by men. It may be safely affirmed, 
that more deference is paid to the female sex in 
America, than in any country of Europe. A New 
York drayman, for instance, before going to his 
work in the morning, will carry the water, cleave 
the wood, and perform other items of domestic 
drudgery, which in most countries generally falls 
to the share of the wife. There is no such thing 
to be seen in the country, as a woman working in 
the fields. I have seen one Scotish farmer in Ver- 
mont, who made his daughters occasionally work 
out; but this was matter of speculation amongst 
his neighbours. The harvest fields in America are 
consequently not enlivened by the presence of the 
fair sex. This may partly account for the want of 
pastoral poetry amongst the Americans. There is 
but little singing or music to be heard in the coun- 
try, excepting in some houses the almost incessant 
hum of Methodist tunes, which are often applied 
indiscriminately to poetry, whether sacred or pro- 
fane. 

Regarding music in America, there are few tunes 
that may be called national. The chief of these 
are, " Hail Columbia," " Washington's March," 



200 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

and " Yankee Doodle ;'* the last of which was 
composed by the chaplain of a British regiment 
before the Revolution. Scotish tunes are very 
much in fashion ; and I may here mention, that 
our immortal Burns, Ramsay, and Fergusson, are 
greatly admired in all the States of America. There 
are some tunes, however, which it would not be 
safe to play. I recollect of a young Scotsman, 
one evening in New York, having offered a street 
musician (a rare thing here) half a dollar to play 
" God save the King," or " Rule Britannia;" but 
the poor fiddler might have as soon attempted to 
pull down a liberty-pole.* In such matters as 
these, the Americans are exceedingly illiberal and 
puerile. They would wish to engross the hobby- 
horse, liberty, to themselves alone. Strangers 
ought, however, from motives of policy, if not of 
politeness, to be guarded in their expressions and 
conduct — at least if they expect to get along quiet- 
ly. The Americans are vastly tender on national 
points ; and such expressions, on political subjects, 

* These are immense long poles, sixtj^ or seventy feet in 
length, erected at the corner of many streets in New York. 
They are generally surmounted with a large cap of liberty gilt, 
and other ornaments. I presume they have been erected as a 
memento to the citizens, in case they should lose sight of their 
independence. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 201 

as an American might use in Britain, without at 
all beinor taken notice of, could not be uttered in 
America by a British subject with impunity. I 
once heard a Scotsman, who was sorely beset by 
half a dozen of Yankees, ask them in a passion, to 
draw off their stockings, that he might see the 
mark of their chains ! The most prudent path for 
foreigners to take, where they cannot discuss poli- 
tics on equal terms, is to avoid them altogether. 
It is perhaps ill bred to take up the cudgels to the 
Americans in their own house ; but an American, 
who might be rather bold or imprudent in giving 
his sentiments in Britain, would merely be laughed 
at. 

In 1824 the French Marquess, La Fayette, paid 
a visit to America. This gentleman, who had as- 
sisted the Americans in effecting their revolution, 
was received with great enthusiasm in every part 
of the country : he certainly merits the gratitude 
of the Americans in a very eminent degree. When 
but a young man of twenty, recently married to a 
beautiful and amiable woman, and possessing eve- 
ry enjoyment which wealth or rank could bestow, 
this Frenchman was seized with an irresistible im- 
pulse to devote his life and fortune to the cause of 
freedom in America. In opposition even to the 
command of his monarch, he hired a vessel at his 



202 

own expense, and forthwith proceeded to America, 
where he was well received. He took out a con- 
siderable quantity of ammunition and clothing 
with him, which was very acceptable at that pe- 
riod to the Revolutionists. He was soon after- 
wards created an American General, and signaliz- 
ed himself in several actions, and was certainly of 
great service to the cause of liberty in more ways 
than one. A great friendship subsisted betwixt 
him and General Washington, who treated him as 
a son. Having remained in America as long as 
the cause required his exertions, he returned 
home. 

In every part of the country which he visited in 
1824, he was entertained in a manner which 
exhibited the enthusiasm of the people in a 
great degree ; all ranks and ages seemed to pour 
forth the homage of gratitude and respect to this 
truly disinterested man. In Philadelphia, tri- 
umphal arches, erected at an immense expense, 
were thrown across the principal streets, through 
which he passed; and even in the small towns 
through which his way lay, the kindly feelings of 
the people were most unequivocally expressed. 
The General is quite an affable gentleman, and 
behaved to the great satisfaction of all ranks. 

On his way to Philadelphia from New York, he 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 203 

remained in Bristol a short time, and took dinner: 
the carriage in which he rode was a most elegant 
vehicle, drawn by four beautiful cream-coloured 
horses ; it belonged to a man of fortune in New 
York, who voluntarily offered it for the GeneraPs 
convenience : it certainly was a very fine equipage 
upon the whole, but even in this article it would 
have been strange had the natives let the matter 
pass without some allusions (innocently enough 
spoken, I believe) to the old country. I could 
not help smiling, when a good-natured looking 
Yeoman, who formed a part of the General's 
escort, came up to me as I was looking at the car- 
riage, and said, " I expect. Sir, that your great 
king George's coach does not outshine that there 
one, a bit." A young woman who was staring in 
at a window, to catch a glimpse of La Fayette, ex- 
claimed in my hearing, " Oh, my ! my ! why, that 
great General eats bread like other people." 

It may be observed, that La Fayette was com- 
mander-in-chief of the National Guards, in France, 
at the time of the Revolution, and conducted him- 
self at that awful crisis with great moderation and 
humanity. 

His visit to America served the editors of new^s- 
papers, for several months, with ample grounds 
for eulogizing this truly great man. This was all 



204 

very well, and proper ; but their main object seem- 
ed to be, to hold forth to the world the disinter- 
ested gratitude, and boundless generosity, exhibit- 
ed by the republicans of America, towards their 
former benefactor ; and especially the magnificent 
liberality of their government, in nobly voting the 
General a present of 200,000 dollars (£45,000), in 
money, and a whole township of land (about 
20,0p0 acres) in one of the back States, as a token 
of their gratitude and esteem, and finally in send- 
ing him home to France in one of their new 
frigates. 

The papers were crammed, day after day, with 
high-flown encomiums on the unheard of genero- 
sity and munificence of the government, when, if 
the plain and simple truth had been spoken, they 
were only paying back a part of their old debt. 
Mr Jonathan took good care to conceal the fact 
that General La Fayette, independent of his per- 
sonal services, laid out about 700,000 francs during 
the revolutionary contest for his behoof, which, 
with simple interest, amounts now to upwards of 
400,000 dollars, so that in place of lauding their 
unbounded generosity to the heavens, they were 
merely paying a dividend upon an old debt. The 
Americans are too much in the habit of endeavour- 
ing to drag forth from all around them a greater 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 205 

share of applause than they have a right to expect, 
the consequence of which is, that people are rather 
apt to withhold from them that approbation which 
their actions in many cases most undoubtedly en- 
title them to. Upon this La Fayette subject, many 
of their editors could dwell on nothino^ else for 
sometime, extolling the gratitude of Republics, 
and defying the whole world to show such an 
example of disinterestedness and munificence. 
" What must have been the General's feelings," 
said they, " when the shouts of twelve millions of 
freemen rung in his ears ? what delightful emo- 
tions must have pervaded the breast of the vener- 
able warrior, when he looked every where around 
him, and beheld a whole nation in the full enjoy- 
ment of freedom and happiness ?" Fine words 
these, no doubt, to people at a distance, who know 
no better regarding the state of matters in Ameri- 
ca; but let any man of common feeling take a trip 
to Charleston, and walk to the Exchange, or the 
Vendue Range, and he may see, as I have often 
done, an hundred and fifty poor negroes at the 
hammer; ask at them whether they are revelling 
in liberty, — but more of this anon, 

I could not help laughing oftentimes at the idea 
of these twelve miWion free7nen of the editors' crea- 
tion, as this number includes fully the whole mass 



206 SIX years' residence 

ot* the population of America, taking into account 
eighteen hundred thousand poor black slaves ! 
God knows whether they felt much interested in 
the La Fayette affair or not. But mayhap I am 
dwelling too much upon a sore point with my old 
friends the Americans, for such I really do consider 
many of them. They will, however, I am certain, 
should these desultory ideas ever meet the eye of 
any of my former acquaintances, do me the justice, 
I doubt not, of discharging me from the charge of 
hypocrisy. I am quite conscious that I have stated 
nothing in this place which I would have flinched 
from in America, nor which I will be ashamed to 
avow should I ever again set my foot on the shore 
of Columbia. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 207 



CHAPTER XIV. 

JXSTITUTION OF UNITED STATES — PRESIDENT, &C GEORGE 

WASHINGTON — ADAMS AND JEFEEKSON — 4<TH OF JULY — ARMY 
— NEW ORLEANS — JACKSON, &C. — REVENUE — CITY TAXES — 
POPULATION. 

The Constitution of the United States is well 
known to most people in Britain, and has been so 
often commented upon that there is but little left 
to say on the subject. 

The office of President has been compared with 
that of the King of Great Britain, and in some par- 
ticulars this is pretty much the case. He is however, 
in all matters of importance, completely under the 
power of the Senate ; he must have the sanction of 
two-thirds of that body to perform any matter of 
consequence, and the Senate are eventually wholly 
controlled by the voice of the people. It is out of 
the question, for either a President or a minister 
of state to attempt forming a party to suit their 
ow^n purposes, either in the Senate or the House 
of Representatives, for the members of both houses 
are continually changing their places for new ones, 
s 2 



208 SIX years' residence 

There is one thing certain, however, which results 
from this system, and that is, that there can be in 
either house of the legislature, but few individuals 
who can have acquired much experience in govern- 
ment matters ; there may perhaps be some disad- 
vantage in this, public business being conduct- 
ed occasionally in rather a slovenly and dilatory 
manner, but it is a great enemy to corruption ; 
every part and portion o^" the country have their 
turn in being represented, and if each member, (as 
is really the case,) seems to have the interest of his 
own constituents more at heart than the general 
good of the country, still an equal chance is given 
to all eventually. 

The Senate, which is analogous to our House of 
Lords, is composed of two members from each 
State ; in the union, whatever the population of 
that State may be. The House of Representatives, 
which is much the same as our House of Com- 
mons, consists of one member from each 40,000 
inhabitants of the respective States, so that the 
number of members in this body is yearly increas- 
ing. The Representatives are voted by ballot, 
and I cannot say that ever 1 saw much commotion 
in any part where I resided, during an election, 
excepting a few tavern brawls. The system of 
universal suffrage in America, at least so far as I 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 209 

have seen it, is not so replete with anarchy and dis- 
order as has been sometimes represented. 

The members of Congress receive eight dollars 
each, per day, while upon duty, and a competent 
allowance for travelling expenses. It has been 
hinted pretty often, that many of their debates are 
lengthened on account of this emolument; the 
author of Knickerbocker, I think, asserts that they 
will dispute for days upon the propriety of voting 
their President a pair of breeches. 

The President, who continues in office for four 
years, may be re-elected at the expiration of that 
term, but not a third time, until he has been out of 
office for eight years. The salary allowed to this 
officer is twenty-five thousand dollars (.^5,625) 
per annum, which is certainly by far too little, con- 
sidering the state and dignity which the President 
requires to keep up. The Americans are well 
aware of this, but seem afraid that an increase of 
salary w^ould make this office too much an object 
of interest. 

As yet, it has been a very unprofitable office to 
any who have held it ; and, excepting Washington, 
they have generally retired deeply in debt, and one 
of them, in his old age, was under the necessity of 
having recourse to the generosity of his country- 
men, by making a lottery of his estate. It can re- 
s 3 



210 SIX years' residence 

fleet but little honour on a nation, to suffer their 
most worthy and faithful servants to die in poverty 
above the age of fourscore, in daily horror of being 
arrested ; this however was literally the case with 
Mr Jefferson in 1826. The saving of a paltry sum 
by a nation, too, which can be so ostentatiously 
generous to foreigners occasionally, is hardly to be 
put in competition with the disgrace and contempt 
which such conduct incurs from surroundingnations. 

The salary of President ought certainly, at all 
events, to be sufficiently ample to enable him to 
defray the expenses inevitably incurred by the dis- 
charge of his office, in a style befitting a gentleman. 
The country can well afford it, and it would save 
many a severe but just taunt from foreigners. If 
the salary of President should be so low as to make 
it no object of avarice, it certainly ought to be as 
much as would prevent the person holding it from 
incurring debt. Twenty-five thousand dollars is 
making a mock of the matter, when it is consider- 
ed that the office of mayor in some of the large 
cities is about half as lucrative. 

The office of Vice-President is considered as of 
comparatively little consequence. The salary is 
five-thousand dollars (^1125). 

I cannot avoid in this place, saying a few words 
m regard to that most disinterested, brave, and 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 211 

truly virtuous man, George Washington, who is 
most deservedly styled the Father of his Country ; 
to say that he was truly a second William Wal- 
lace, is sufficient to stamp his character with every 
Scotsman ; for my own part, I am unable to pay 
his memory a higher compliment, than by making 
this comparison. 

The exertions of this distinguished patriot, in 
the cause of liberty, were truly disinterested; his 
time and talents were entirely devoted to effect the 
freedom of his countrymen, and that without the 
most distant hope of reward, except what arose in 
his own bosom from a conviction of having per- 
formed his duty, and the unanimous approbation 
of his countrymen. He kept an exact account of 
what money he expended, while commander-in- 
chief of the American army, and at the conclusion 
of the war, accepted of this sum alone, without de- 
manding any thing for his great and unwearied ser- 
vices. 

The greatest and the most upright of men, in 
every age and country, have had their enemies. 
Washington appears to have had none. I cannot 
remember a single instance of having heard the 
smallest allusion to his disadvantage, from any per- 
son in America, of whatever rank. His memory is 
indeed idolised, and I think it is very doubtful if 



212 SIX years' residence 

ever an American, in his sound senses, has spoken 
of Washington but in terms of admiration. This 
great man died in December, 1799, in the 68th 
year of his age. He fulfilled the office of Presi- 
dent for nearly eight years, with credit to himself, 
and was the first person elected to that office, after 
the establishment of the present form of govern- 
ment in 1789. The following is a list of those who 
have been elected to this important office : — 

1st. George Washington, in the year 1789. 
Do. 

2d. John Adams, 

3d. Thomas Jefferson, 
Do. 

4th. James Madison, 
Do. 

5th. James Monroe, 
Do. 

6th. John Quincy Adai 
John Adams, ^ 

7th. Andrew Jackson 

It may be remarked as a somewhat singular 
coincidence, that Presidents John Adams and 
Thomas Jefferson both died on the 4th of July, 
1826, that very day fifty years on which they had 
signed the celebrated declaration of Independence. 
This important paper was drawn up by Jefferson, 



again 


1793. 




1797. 




1801. 


again 


]805. 




1809. 


again 


1813. 




1817. 


again 


1821. 


, (son of 






1825. 




1829. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 213 

and its merits were advocated by Adams, to their, 
at that crisis, somewhat hesitating countrymen. 
Both of these ilhistrious veterans felt their latter end 
approaching for some time prior to their dissolution, 
and both of them expressed a most earnest wish to 
live just until the approaching anniversary ; their 
wish was granted. On the morning of the day on 
which he departed, old Adams, hearing the firing 
of cannon, inquired the cause, and being remind- 
ed that the 4th of July had arrived, raised himself 
a little in his bed, feebly exclaiming, " Oh ! it is a 
most glorious day," and shortly after expired. He 
was in the ninety- first year of his age: Mr Jeffer- 
son was eighty-four. 

The declaration of independence was signed by 
above forty individuals, all of whom have paid the 
debt of nature, excepting Charles Carroll of Bal- 
timore, who is still alive. He is aged above ninety, 
and is, I think, grandfather to the present Mar- 
chioness of Wellesley. 

It has often been remarked, that the greater 
part of those who signed this eventful paper, have 
lived to be old men. A considerable number of 
them died between seventy and eighty years of 
age: several from eighty to ninety, and a few 
above ninety. 

The anniversary of the declaration of indepen- 



214 SIX years' residence 

dence (the 4th of July) is celebrated throughout 
America with every demonstration of delight. It 
is not, apparently, a local or an individual feeling, 
but seems alike to pervade the breasts of all ranks 
and ages; all feel deeply interested in testifying 
their joy, and the Genius of Liberty seems to look 
down with complacency upon an enthusiastic and 
delighted nation. The dawn of this national ju- 
bilee is ushered in by the firing of cannon, which 
are generally served by some of the few yet sur- 
viving veterans of the revolution. It is almost im- 
possible to gaze upon these venerable men, with- 
out a feeling of deep respect and admiration. Each 
returning anniversary of their liberty seems to in- 
vigorate their frames with youthful energy ; and 
their age-bedimmed eyes sparkle with the fire of 
" the days of other years." In a few years, how- 
ever, at most, these venerable remnants of a gene- 
ration that scorned the gift of existence without 
liberty, will descend to the land of forgetfulness. 

The American government have certainly exhi- 
bited to the world the interesting fact, that a great 
nation may be ruled in peace and happiness, with- 
out an overwhelming standing army. The utmost 
extent by law of the regular army of the United 
States, should not exceed five thousand men : at 
present (1829) it is 5,529, who are distributed in 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 215 

forts and garrisons alongst a frontier of more than 
5000 miles, many of which are literally in the 
midst of a wilderness, inhabited by savages, or 
white men scarcely less savage. Still, however, 
with a few occasional skirmishes in the back coun- 
try, America, as a whole, presents a beautiful pic- 
ture of contentment and peace. Even in some of 
their large cities, there are not above fifty regulars 
stationed ; yet they contrive to keep down mobs 
and riots by the police ; or if military assistance 
must be had recourse to, the militia instantly turn 
out. 

The Americans fought well during last war, be- 
yond all doubt, especially near Canada, where 
some of their engagements with our troops were 
of much greater extent than is generally known in 
Britain. By their account, at Chippeway, on 5th 
July, 1814, the British had 143 killed, 329 wound- 
ed, and 46 missing, while the Americans lost 60 
killed, 229 wounded, and 19 missing ; and at the 
falls of Niagara, on the 25th of the same month, 
the British loss was 84 killed, 559 wounded, and 
183 missing, while the loss on the American side 
was 171 killed, 5*72 wounded, and 117 missing. 

Their great boast is the affair of New Orleans, 
in which, however, they admit, that their success 
was in a great measure owing to fortuitous circum- 



216 SIX years' residence 

stances — namely, the ill laid schemes of the British 
commander, the swamps through which the Bri- 
tish army had to pass, and, lastly, their own ad- 
vantageous position behind a rampart of cotton 
bales, where they could take deliberate aim in per- 
fect security. The American account of this bu- 
siness makes the loss of the British to amount to 
three thousand and upwards ; while their own loss 
in killed and wounded was only forty-three. 

General Jackson, who stands so high in the eyes 
of the people, that he was within an ace of being 
elected President in 1825, (indeed, he had clearly 
the voice of the people in his election, although 
the house of representatives decided in favour of 
Adams) conducted the defence of New Orleans 
with great ability. He is most unquestionably a 
man of courage, and possesses great decision of 
spirit. He laid the city of New Orleans under 
military law, for which he was afterwards (al- 
though they acknowledge it was to his prompt 
measures they owed their safety) censured by the 
civil powers, and fined in one thousand dollars, 
which he instantly paid. By way of making him 
amends, they have since erected a monument in 
commemoration of his prowess, at an expense of 
fifty thousand dollars. I have heard an anecdote 
of the general at this period, \vhich is quite char- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 217 

racteristic. Part of the ramparts thrown up in de- 
fence of New Orleans upon this occasion, con- 
sisted of cotton bales : of course, there was no dis- 
crimination used in selecting one man's property 
more than that of another; but a French merchant, 
whose store was cleared of its contents, imao-ined 
such liberty too much of a good thing. He ac- 
cordingly came down to the spot where the sol- 
diers were piling up his cotton as a defence against 
the British artillery, and luckily, as he thought, 
fell in with General Jackson, to whom he imme- 
diately addressed himself, saying, " Generale, it is 
too bad of your men to take my cottone ; I must 'ave 
it taken care of." Jackson asked him very quietly 
if he was quite sure of his own property being be- 
fore him ; the merchant instantly replied, " Begar ! 
I know my own cottone ver well : I know all de 
marks well." The general then coolly turned 
round to some of his attendants, telling them to 
hand the Frenchman a musket. This being speed- 
ily performed, he said, «* Now, my good friend, 
you are the most proper person I know of to de- 
fend your own property; stir from this spot at 
your peril." 

Jackson has been accused of treachery and 
cruelty in his wars wdth the Indians. It is said, 
that on one occasion, he ordered the British flao- 

o 
T 



218 SIX years' residence 

to be hoisted on board a vessel for the purpose of 
inducing an Indian chief, who was an ally of the 
British, to come on board, which stratagem hav- 
ing taken effect, he instantly caused the unsuspi- 
cious Indian to be hung up ! These Indian wars 
are generally conducted on both sides much more 
by stratagem than by fair fighting. 

When I was in Charleston in 1818, he was 
much blamed even by many Americans, for caus- 
ing two British officers (Arbuthnot and Ambrister) 
to be executed in Georgia ; but these, it was said, 
w^ere taken as spies, and had it been otherwise, 
certainly the British government would have taken 
some notice of the matter. 

Jackson was born in Tennessee, of Irish parents, 
about the year 1 768. 

I once happened to meet with a tall, decent 
looking personage on board of a steam-boat, whom, 
after some conversation, I discovered to have acted 
as chaplain to General Jackson. He gave a high 
character of the latter ; but allowed that he was 
very severe in his discipline ; and much need there 
was of his being strict, as many of his men were 
but half civilized, and could brook almost nothing 
like regularity. In their campaigns against the 
Indians, they had to undergo great privations and 
fatigue, frequently being for days almost without a 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 219 

morse]. "Jackson had much ado," he said, " to 
prevent them from returning home on several occa- 
sions." I asked this gentleman whether he read 
prayers and preached to the soldiers regularly? He 
replied, " Oh, pretty much so ; but my principal 
duty consisted in acting as conciliator ; going from 
tent to tent amoiifrst the soldiers, endeavourinor to 
reconcile them to existing circumstances, and keep 
them on good terms with their general." 

At one time, a whole regiment turned out and 
insisted on returning home ; Jackson rode to the 
front, and pulling out a large horse pistol, swore 
that he would shoot the first man who should dare 
to move one step. This firmness and determina- 
tion had the desired effect. 

I said, " No doubt you must have seen some 
hard fighting with the Indians ?" " Yes ;" an- 
swered he, " by " (not any thing very bad, 

however) " we did fight the Indians, and whipt 
them too." " But as a clergyman," said I, " you 
surely took no share in actual combat?" " Why, 
Sir," replied he, " at the battle of the Horse Shoe 
I fought for about eight hours, and had to get 
a fresh musket several times, the one I used 
getting so hot in my hand. I guess we fixed more 
than six hundred Indians that day." This reve- 
rend gentleman described the horrible looks and 
T 2 



220 

yells of the Indians during an engagement as being 
quite appalling, and nothing but the strictest disci- 
pline and coolness could withstand it. 

The revenue of the United States consists prin- 
cipally of the duties levied upon the importation 
of foreign merchandise, and money arising from 
the sale of public lands, — the whole amount as 
stated below being about 25,000,000 dollars, or 
^5,625,000 sterling. Since the peace of 1815, 
the government has been annually appropriating a 
considerable sum to the reduction of the national 
debt, which is now under seventy millions of dol- 
lars. At the rate it is being annually reduced, it 
will soon be altogether expunged ; and in that 
case, the government will be at a loss what to do 
with the revenue, for should they reduce the 
duty on imports greatly, domestic manufactures 
will proportionally suffer. Such a state of finances 
is certainly to be envied by some nations. 

By raising a handsome sum on the duties arising 
from the importation of foreign goods, the American 
government have acted with great wisdom ; as at 
the same time, that domestic manufactures are en- 
couraged, a belief is entertained by many of the 
mobocracy^ that it is British subjects or merchants 
who are thus paying their taxes 1 never consider- 
ing that the consumer must ultimately be the suf- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 221 

ferer. At all events, it would be no easy matter 
to raise such sums in America by excise duties. 
During the war, a stamp duty, and window-light 
duties which were imposed upon the citizens, ex- 
cited considerable discontent. 

The following is a statement of the revenue and 
expenditure for an average of three years, ending 
1828:— 

REVENUE. 

Custom-House duties, (whereof two-thirds are col- 
lectedintheportof New York) 21,050,766 dollars. 



Sale of public lands. 


1,368,573 




Internal revenue. 


22,416 




Direct taxes. 


3,865 




Post-Office, 


290 




Dividends on bank stock. 


396,700 




Miscellaneous, 


. 513,297 




Loans and treasury notes, 


{,666,666 






25,022,573 






or £5,630,078 sterlg. 


EXPENDITURE. 




Civil list, 


1,271,877 ( 


dollars 


Army, 


. 3,852,707 




Navy, .... 


. 3,843,621 




Public debt. 


. 11,046,698 





T 3 



222 



SIX years' residence 



Revolutionary pensions, 
Other pensions, 
Indian department, . 
Foreign intercourse, 
Miscellaneous, . 



1,136,672 dollars. 

215,762 

737,714 

421,199 

993,987 



23,520,237 



or .3^5,292,053 sterlg. 

The public debt in 1825 was 83,788,432 dollars. 

Ditto 1826 81,054,059 

Ditto 1827 73,987,357 ~ — 

Ditto 1828 67,475,622 



or .£15,182,014* sterlg. 



* The city taxes in some parts of the United States are 

very heavy. Take for example the city of Charleston, which 

can by no means be reckoned as the highest : 

" On value of lots or buildings, . . One per cent. 

" Monies, notes, bonds, &c. on interest, 

" Stock in trade, 

" All profit or income arising from the pur- 
suit of any trade, faculty, or profession, }> One per cent, 
excepting clergymen, teachers, &c. 

*' Stock of Marine or Fire Insurance Com- 
panies, 

" Slaves per head, li dollar. 

" Coach, chariot, post-chaise, phaeton, or 

other four-wheeled carriage, each, . 30 dollars. 

" Four-wheeled chaise or carriage drawn by 

one horse, 20 ... 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 223 

The progressive increase of population in the 
United States, forms an interesting and pleas- 
ing subject to the contemplation of the philan- 
thropist. Here there is no ground to support the 
hypothesis of a Malthus ; no occasion to delineate, 
in glowing colours, the misery and starvation ine- 
vitably attendant upon a state of matrimony, or to 
enact legal measures to check the growth of popu- 
lation. 

The increase of population in the United States, 
during the last fifty years, is altogether unprece- 
dented ; and although immigration to a considera- 
ble deofree has contributed to this increase, it must 
be taken only in a limited sense. The number of 
emigrants arriving in the United States in any one 
year, cannot be reckoned much over twenty thou- 
sand. The following statement will show the pro- 
gressive increase of population since the revolu- 
tion. In a limited, or barren country, such a rapid 



" Two ditto, 10 dollars. 

« Sulkeys, 7 ... 

" Saddle horses not used by the owners for 

draught or military purposes, . . 15 

" Lots without wells or cisterns, . . .40 

" Dogs, single, 2 ... 

" Ditto, plural, each, 10 ... 

" Watches, 1 ... 

The above is exclusive of the " State tax." 



224 SIX years' residence 

increase would create substantial grounds for the 
reasonings of a Malthus ; but in America, com- 
paratively speaking, there is merely a speck in the 
ocean completely settled. The United States pos- 
sess lands, including that which is unappropriated, 
sufficient to support at least five hundred millions 
of people, allowing as many to the square mile as 
are to be found in England. 

In 1775, the population of all the States was estimated at 2,500,000 
1790, ditto by census was 3,998,796 

1800, ditto 5348,000 

1810, ditto 7,036,565 

1820, ditto 9,636,433 

1828, ditto estimated at 11,^18,462 



N THE UNITED STATES. 225 



CHAPTER XV. 

CHURCHES AND RELIGION — LAWS IN REGARD TO THE CLERGY — 
TITLES — DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN 
STATES — CITIZENS' OATH — INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE NORTH 
AND SOUTH — GULF STREAM — SUNDRY REMARKS AT SEA, &C. 

It is known to most people that in America there 
is no church establishment. The very idea of such a 
circumstance would offer to many, a ready apology 
for throwing off all appearance of religion whatso- 
ever. Truth, when left to itself, will finally pre- 
vail over all obstacles independent of the illiberal 
or ambitious institutions of mankind, which gene- 
rally, instead of forwarding, tend in a great mea- 
sure to overthrow the fabric they are framed to 
support. Religion in America is not the produc- 
tion of a hot-bed, but is the natural fruit of the soil, 
which, although somewhat barren in many places 
in this respect, and meets with but little cultivation, 
upon the whole, has flourished to an extent coequal 
at least with the temporal prosperity of the coun- 
try. 

It may be truly said, that in America there are 



226 SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 

many of that class called free-thinkers, that is, 
many who have never given themselves the trouble 
to investigate the only standard of truth, and de- 
spising to assume the sentiments of those who have, 
conclude that any title bearing the standard of 
liberty, is most appropriate to themselves. 

In America there are certainly a greater propor- 
tion, who profess what are called loose sentiments 
in regard to religious matters than in Britain; this 
may have arisen partly from a dislike to all con- 
straint, and partly from the adoption of French 
principles. Those who expect, however, to hold a 
place under government, must assent to the truth 
of the Scriptures and the Christian religion. 

In the large towns of America, the number of 
churches in proportion to the population, consider- 
ably exceeds the average of churches in British 
towns. At present the whole number of congrega- 
tions in America, has been estimated at ten thou- 
sand, viz : — 

Congregationalists and Baptists, . . 4,500 

Presbyterians, 2,500 

Episcopalians, 500 

Methodists, Quakers, Catholics, &c. 2,500 



10,000 
The methodists in America have made great 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 227 

progress especially among the coloured people. 
The Roman Catholic religion cannot be expect- 
ed to meet with much encouragement, where the 
liberty [of investigating the truth prevails. The 
most of its votaries here are Irish or their immedi- 
ate descendants. In Philadelphia and some other 
towns they have elegant churches; where the pom- 
pous mummeries of the Roman ritual are conducted 
with a grandeur sufficient to impose upon the mul- 
titude. 

Unitarianism and Universalism seem to be gain- 
ing ground in America daily. In 1824, a Reverend 
gentleman of the latter persuasion, publicly dis- 
puted for several days with a presbyterian clergy- 
man, on the merits of their respective creeds. As 
might have been expected, they left off their dis- 
cussion just about as they commenced, each side 
claiming the victory, and neither of them convinc- 
ed. To judge from the feelings of the public on 
this occasion, the Universalist creed seemed the 
most popular and palatable. 

As neither great honours nor wealth are to be 
attained in America by profound learning, it may 
be naturally expected, that the clergy, if useful in 
an ordinary degree, fulfil their duty. Illustrious 
talents rarely blaze forth without some stimulus. 
In America, many of the Methodist clergy are 



228 

very illiterate; I have heard a gentleman of that 
sect, expatiate for about an hour on the roe of a 
cod fish. 

From the freedom of sentiment in regard to re- 
ligious matters prevalent in America, and also from 
the nature of the government, there are not so many 
different sects of Presbyterians existing as in Scot- 
land. In New York there is a small congregation 
of Antiburghers or Seceders, and also one in Phila- 
delphia. The Burghers in America seem mostly 
to amalgamate with their brethren of the church of 
Scotland. Upon the whole, if the people of 
America may in some cases be charged with being 
rather latitudinarian in their principles, they are 
equally free from many old fashioned and bigotted 
practices, which reflect but little credit on certain 
classes of Dissenters in Scotland. In a large coun- 
try town in Pennsylvania, I had an opportunity of 
observing the conduct of a respectable clergyman 
of the Episcopal church ; who with a liberality and 
charity which would not be allowed in England, 
invited the well-disposed of all sects, who were not 
of scandalous character, to come forward to the 
table of the Lord. " He invited them," as he said, 
" to approach not the table of the church of Eng- 
land or of America, but the table of Christ." 

It cannot be said that family religion is much 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 229 

attended to in America, either in town or country ; 
family worship is practised but rarely, and the al- 
most universal custom in Scotland of asking a 
blessing at meal times is by no means general. In 
the State of Vermont, I observed that several Sco- 
tish emigrants kept up family worship on the morn- 
ing and evening of sabbath, but not upon week 
days, although they had ample leisure for doing 
so if at all inclined. 

At the revolution, the Americans were deter- 
mined to enact laws, completely debarring the 
clergy from interfering in the very smallest de- 
gree with government matters. An extract from the 
38th and 39th section of the State laws of New 
York may be quoted. 

" And whereas we are required by the benevo- 
lent principles of rational liberty, not only to expel 
civil tyranny, but also to guard against that spiri- 
tual oppression and intolerance^ wherewith the bigo- 
try and ambition of weak and wicked priests and 
princes have scourged mankind. 

" This convention doth further, in the name and 
by the authority of the good people of this State, 
ordain, determine and declare, that the free exercise 
and enjoyment of religious profession and worship 
without discrimination or preference, shall for ever 

hereafter be allowed within this State to all man- 

u 



230 SIX years' residence 

kind, provided that the liberty of conscience here- 
by granted, shall not be construed as to excuse 
«c^s of licentiousness, ov justify practices inconsis- 
tent with the peace or safety of the State. 

*' And whereas the ministers of the gospel are, 
by their profession, dedicated to the service of God 
and the cure of souls, and ought not to be diverted 
from the great duties of their functions ; therefore 
no minister of the gospel or priest of any denomi- 
nation whatever, shall at any time hereafter, under 
any pretence or description whatever, be eligible 
to, or capable of liolding any civil or military office 
within this State." 

Although all titles of rank are prohibited by law 
in America, yet it may be safely affirmed, that no 
set of men upon earth are more jealous and tena- 
cious of those distinctions and titles which custom 
or courtesy has conferred upon them. The gover- 
nor of a State assumes, and is generally styled his 
" Excellency" or " Honourable." Judges, also 
Mayors of cities, are styled " His Honour." In 
common life, that is to say, in hotels, steam-boats, 
stage coaches, &c., the words General, Colonel, 
Judge, Doctor, &c. are dealt about with little dis- 
crimination, and the tide of " Squire," is applied 
to almost every person of tolerable appearance; 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 231 

•' Sir," and " Mr," are often applied to the most 
common artizans and labourers. 

It may be remarked, however, that it is by no 
means a likely case, that upon landing in America, 
you will have (as some travellers have asserted,) a 
General or a Colonel to drive or carry your luggage 
to an inn. It is nevertheless true, that there are 
both colonels and generals in America, who sup- 
port themselves by occupations not altogether com- 
patible with the dignity attached to those ranks in 
Britain. A major-general in New York is also 
one of the most respectable tailors ; and I have 
more than once travelled in a stage coach, the 
driver of which had formerly, or actually did hold 
a rank equally high. I remember on one occasion 
having arrived in the evening, at a stage house in 
the State of New York ; the driver of the stage, 
who was also joint proprietor thereof, after the 
passengers had entered the house and drawn near 
to the fire, came in, and after giving the billet of 
wood which was nearest him upon the fire a 
hearty kick, (an almost universal custom with the 
Yankees upon entering a house in cold weather,) 
accosted the landlord with, " Well, gen'ral, how 
goes it? another cold night I guess; I expect the fire 
wants some wood." The landlord replied, " Why 
major, I guess you're in the right, the fire does 
u 2 



232 SIX years' residence 

seem 'nation Jow, we must have that fixed slick 
away ;" so saying, he went out and returned in a 
twinkling with an armful of split wood, which he 
threw on the fire. The landlord of this inn was 
truly a jack of all trades, uniting the dignities and 
avocations of store-keeper, inn-keeper, post-master, 
farmer, and major-general in one and the same per- 
son. I knew a gentleman in a country town, not 
many miles from Philadelphia, who possessed con- 
siderable wealth ; and amongst other speculationsj 
let out coaches for hire ; nor did he think it beneath 
his dignity of " Squire and Major," (such at least 
was he usually styled,) to act as driver himself, in 
the absence of his regular Jehu. Upon making 
some particular inquiries regarding the rank, which 
this gentleman had ever held in the army ; I dis- 
covered that at the battle of Trenton, he had, be- 
ing then a- boy of sixteen, driven one of the ammu- 
nition waggons. I suspect that the pedigree of 
many an American general's title, would not stand 
the test of investigation much better. The mania 
for titles amongst the Americans will most unques- 
tionably one day or other make them completely 
lose sight of their so much talked of equality, nor 
does it require any extraordinary stretch of fancy, 
to predict that before the close of the twentieth cen- 
tiirv, such titles may be introduced as the " Earl 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 233 

of New York" or " Lord Philadelphia." The 
Americans love liberty well enough, but vanity is 
one of their hobby-horses ; every person who keeps 
a carriage, has a coat of arms, or at least a crest, 
painted on it, although there is reason to doubt, 
that they might search the herald's office till dooms- 
day for their origin. It is not by any means a 
mere chimera to suppose, that the extreme eager- 
ness displayed by some Americans for empty and un- 
substantial honours, may by imperceptible degrees, 
cause division, and strife amongst the would-be aris- 
tocrats, and the democrats of America, and even- 
tually lead to a separation of the States. Should 
ever this event take place, there is no saying whe- 
ther the ambition and vanity of the great ones of 
America, may not erect something a little different 
from a Republic, in the midst of the general con- 
fusion. Even the most sanguine amongst the 
Americans cannot but discover, that, although per- 
haps not in their day, yet the time cannot be far 
distant, when the bands of the confederation will 
be too feeble, to hold together such an unwieldy 
fabric. The interests of many of the States, espe- 
cially of the northern and southern divisions, are 
as opposite as what their manners and their cli- 
mate are. 

The Carolinians talk of the northern people, 
u 3 



2B4> SIX years' residence 

(i. e. the New Englanders or Yankees,) with the 
utmost contempt; looking upon them as a low, 
hypocritical pack of cheating scoundrels. On the 
other hand, these men of the north return the 
compliment in style, and speak of the Carolinians 
and Georgians, as being an unprincipled, dissipat- 
ed race of gamblers and slave dealers. They often 
talk of each other with much more bitterness, than 
ever was expressed by Eritons towards Frenchmen 
during the heat of war. A considerable trade is how- 
ever carried on between the northern and southern 
States, the former supplying the latter with many 
necessary articles of provision, which they do not 
raise themselves. During the prevalence of the 
yellow fever at Charleston, some years ago, a ves- 
sel arrived from the north, with a cargo of ready 
made coffins. This glaring breach of decency, the 
Carolinians will not soon forget ; the coffins met 
with no sale, and the captain of the coffin ship had 
to cut away from the south with all speed. 

About nine years ago, the town of Savannah 
suffered greatly by fire, and many contributions 
were sent from various States to assist the losers. 
Amongst others, a contribution of several thou- 
sands of dollars w^as sent by the inhabitants of a 
northern city, who very delicately expressed their 
hope that a portion of this money should be ap- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 235 

propriated to alleviate the distress of the coloured 
people who had suffered. But mark the result ; the 
whole amount was instantly returned by the high- 
souled Georgians, who disdained, as they said, to 
be dictated to by the Yankees. It may not be out 
of place here, while talking of the Yankees, who 
are generally stigmatised in America with being 
mean and avaricious, to state, that when a great 
part of the British possessions suffered much from 
fire which originated in the woods a few years ago, 
and the population were in great distress, the Yan- 
kees, highly to their honour, generously despatched 
several vessels loaded with flour and other provi- 
sions to their relief, and this gratuitously. 

I have heard men of experience and considera- 
tion, in America, assert, that if the last war with 
Britain had continued but a year, or even half a 
year longer, there would most certainly have been 
a separation of the northern from the other States. 
The enormous duties which are levied on foreign 

o 

goods, is a great bone of contention between the 
northern and manufacturing, and the southern or 
planting interest. It is mostly goods of British 
manufacture, cotton, woollen, or linen, which are 
worn in the Southern States ; and it is almost 
wholly British goods with which the planters clothe 
their slaves. Now they think it very hard to pay 



236 SIX years' residence 

about double price for what goods they require 
from Britain, merely, or at least chiefly to promote 
the interests of the northern manufacturers, whilst, 
at the same time, they are exposing themselves to 
countervailing duties by the British, who take from 
them the greater part of their produce. If the 
high duties are taken off' British goods, the manu- 
facturers of America may leave off business, and 
if these duties are continued the planters are in a 
fair way of throwing off" their burden, and admit- 
ting British goods free of duty. 

The States west of the Allegany mountains, in 
case of war, have not the same stake at risk as 
the Sea-board or Atlantic States ; they are quite 
at a distance from the field of contention, and have 
but little to fear from a foreign enemy. In case 
of a protracted war, they could not, nor would 
they furnish men and money, in proportion to the 
other States ; on the first spur of the occasion they 
might do a little, but would soon get sick of the 
business. 

It may not be unsuitable to state, for the infor- 
mation of those who may hereafter emigrate to the 
United States of America, upon what terms they 
may procure the rights and privileges of citizens. 
During the continuance of the last war with Bri- 
tain, the American government were quite inclined 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 23*7 

to bestow this honour upon any person who chose 
to take the oath ; and even yet there are various 
ways of evading the law, which enjoins a proba- 
tion of five years' residence in America previous 
to taking the oath. I have known the case of 
a young man who laid himself down in a child's 
cradle, and caused himself to be rocked therein for 
a minute or two in the presence of two American 
friends, who afterwards went along with him to 
the proper office, and on being questioned if they 
had known the applicant for some years, replied, 
" Oh yes, a long time, we have known him since 
he was rocked in his cradle !" Such shifts as these 
are resorted to sometimes by sailors who enter on 
board American ships, and the custom-house offi- 
cers wink at it, otherwise vessels might occasion- 
ally be delayed for want of hands, the law requir- 
ing that three-fourths of a ship's crew be citizens 
of America. The regular way of going to work 
is to give intimation at the proper office of your 
intention to become a citizen, and thereafter ap- 
pearing at the same place in five years afterwards 
to take the oath, which may be conceived by most 
people as being not quite easy to swallow ; unless 
a person is quite determined to spend the re- 
mainder of his days in America. The nature of this 
oath is such, that the individual most solemnly 



238 SIX years' residence 

forswears allegiance for ever to all princes, poten- 
tates, and powers on earth, especially the King 
of Great Britain and Ireland^ and in the same so- 
lemn manner swearing everlasting allecjiance to 
the President of the United States. The advan- 
tages, in some respects, enjoyed by citizens over 
aliens, has induced thousands of honest Britons to 
take the required oath, whether such have done so 
with a mental reservation, like a certain class of 
Christians, it is not my business to inquire. I as- 
sured some of my friends who pressed me upon 
this topic, that I would not have the least objec- 
tion to rally around the standard of the stars and 
stripes against all foreign enemies whatsoever, ex- 
cepting the land of my nativity ; and I hope, that 
I may not be understood as intending to shove in 
a compliment to myself when I state, that I found 
several obstructions and disadvantages in the 
course of my business for declining to swallow 
this test of obedience to his honour the President. 
It is certainly a matter deserving of some little de- 
liberation, at least to one who has not actually re- 
nounced all ideas of ever returning to his native 
soil. I cannot, however, avoid stating my humble 
opinion, that the man who would dare to rise in 
arms against his native country, is unworthy of 
the name of Briton, and can scarcely be expected 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 239 

to possess the confidence even of his adopted coun- 
trymen. On the other hand, I by no means envy 
the feelings of that man, who, after having spent a 
few years in America, would cherish the idea of 
embruing his hands with the blood of Columbia's 
sons. 

I have already mentioned, that a considerable in- 
tercourse is at all times carried on between the 
northern and southern ports ; but especially in the 
winter season, a sort of emigration southward begins 
generally in October from the cities of Boston, New 
York and Philadelphia, consisting chiefly of mer- 
chants and mechanics, who go south to carry on 
their several callings for a few months, and return 
early next summer. A goodly number of play 
actors also go south at this season to amuse the 
planters, and no small number of lady adventurers, 
who yearly pay the southern gentlemen a visit to 
empty their pockets of a few dollars, To the ho- 
nour of the inhabitants of Charleston be it spoken, 
that there is hardly an instance on record, of a 
native-born wliite woman of that city turning out 
" a woman of the town." This is one reason why 
the southern gentlemen draw yearly upon their 
northern brethren for such commodities. There 
are elegantly fitted up packet ships plying weekly 
between these ports. The passage money from 



240 SIX years' residence 

New York to Charleston varies from twenty to 
thirty dollars (£4 10s. to £6 15s.) A number of 
schooners also ply regularly ; in these, the fare is 
from twelve to twenty dollars (£2 14s. to ^4 10s.) 
The voyage is usually accomplished in from four 
to eight days. These schooners are sometimes 
commanded by men who know little of navigation 
as a science ; but they are generally hardy, steady 
fellows, and find their way quite snugly along the 
coast, without troubling themselves much about 
their reckoning. They in general contrive to find 
their latitude, and by keeping inside of the gulph 
stream on their voyage southwards, seldom go 
wrong. Many of these honest fellows trade to 
the West Indies, taking cattle, provisions and lum- 
ber with them. They load their puny vessels 
most unconscionably sometimes. I have seen a 
vessel of fifty or sixty tons, with a load on deck of 
hay and lumber, at least eight feet high, whilst the 
water was within eighteen inches of the deck, con- 
tending with a heavy sea, half way betwixt Ame- 
rica and the West Indies. At every roll of these 
overloaded vessels, you might observe the sea 
rushing completely over the deck. Accidents 
occur occasionally, but not so often as might be 
expected. In some of these West India voyages, 
I was told that the master notes down his observa- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 241 

tions on the edge of the bulwarks of the vessel, 
with a pencil, making this serve as a log book. 
The whole coast of America, at least south of 
New York, is remarkably low, and land is invisi- 
ble until within a few leagues. The first appear- 
ance of land on the coast of Carolina, is the tops of 
the pine trees. 

Were the ocean as deep along this coast as upon 
the British shores, the consequences would be dread- 
ful to seamen ; but Providence has wisely provided 
for this, soundings being found at a great distance 
from land. Close in shore, the depth is generally 
six or seven fathoms, and it gradually deepens 
about one fathom per mile for forty or fifty miles 
out ; in some places to a greater distance, so that 
seamen have fair warning of their danger. The 
gulph stream, which is a current issuing from the 
gulph of Mexico, between the southernmost point 
of Florida, and the West India Islands, and runs 
along a great part of the American coast, is ano- 
ther guide to vessels approaching the southern 
States of America. By the use of a thermometer, 
any captain may ascertain whether he is within 
the limits of. this stream. Indeed, it is the gene- 
ral custom for seamen, in approaching this coast, 
to draw a bucket of water occasionally, the water 
within the stream or current feeling almost milk- 



242 SIX years' residence 

warm. I have made several experiments with a 
thermometer in this stream, one of which I may 
quote from a memorandum book : 
" 1823. Dec. 13if/«.— Ship Empress, bound from 
Charleston to New York, latitude 35° 20'; lon- 
gitude 75°, being in the gulph stream, steering 
west. 
At 9 A. M. thermometer in air, 57. 
... do. do. in water, 72. 

lido. do. in air, 56, being out of the stream. 

...do. do. in water, 56. 

The temperature of the water has, therefore, fallen 
16 degrees in two hours." 

Over a great part of the Western Atlantic 
Ocean, an immense quantity of what is commonly 
called Gulph weed, floats on the surface of the 
water. It is remarkable, that hardly a particle of 
this weed is found within the stream ; but it is very 
thick along the edges. It generally runs in long 
ridges, and may lie sometimes as deep as six or 
eight inches, and close together. In some parts, 
as far as the eye can reach, the surface of the 
ocean resembles an immense field of ripe corn. I 
have seen small living crabs floating on this weed. 
In the dark it has a luminous appearance. In the 
first voyage of Columbus, his vessels were de- 
scribed as having had their progress impeded by 
weeds. It is probable that he was then not far 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 243 

distant from the American coast. I have heard 
the captain of a ship affirm, that his vessel has 
gone half a knot, or even a whole knot slower per 
hour, when this weed lay thick on the sea. There 
are other symptoms of a near approach to land, well 
known to seamen ; but which a landsman could 
observe little indication of. In my first voyage to 
Carolina in 1817, a few days previous to our 
making land, I observed a Newfoundland dog on 
board particularly busy in thrusting his head out 
of one of the ports, and snuffing at an unusual rate. 
On remarking this to the captain, he said that the 
dog felt the smell of land, and that he himself 
plainly felt the smell of the pine woods. In the 
course of next day, I thought I could distinctly 
perceive a strong flavour of pine. 

The Gulph stream on the coast of Florida, runs 
at the rate of six or seven miles an hour at one 
part ; on the coast of Carolina, it decreases to two 
or three miles per hour, gradually increasing in 
breadth, and decreasing in rapidity as it flows 
north easterly, and loses itself in the wide expanse 
of the Atlantic. The weed which floats in such 
plenty over the ocean, is supposed to grow on the 
shores of the Gulph of Mexico. If it does so, it 
seems not to be carried out by the stream. When 
the wind blows hard in opposition to this current, 
X 2 



244. SIX years' residence 

it raises a very cross tumbling sea ; and when it 
blows with the stream for a number of days, an 
immensely high and long sea is raised. I had an 
opportunity more than once (particularly in March, 
1820) of witnessing the effects of an equinoctial 
gale on this stream, and the height of the sea 
was truly tremendous. I have read that some phi- 
losopher (Mr Boyle, I think) demonstrated that 
the greatest wind did not penetrate farther into 
the body of the water than six feet, consequently 
raising the greatest wave to the height of twelve 
feet ; but he allowed, that in a continued gale, se- 
veral of these waves unite, forming what seamen 
term mountains high. 

I conceive, that the height of the billows of the 
ocean, can only be conjectured at in a great storm, 
and at a distance from land. The fairest way to 
CGiiie near the truth may be, to keep your eye 
fixed steadily on the vessel, while she is either in 
the trough of the sea, or on the top of a wave, and 
comparing, at the same time, the height and the 
distance between the top of two billows. I tried 
this plan along with three or four other persons on 
board a ship of four hundred tons, the length of 
which was upwards of an hundred feet ; each of 
us, unknown to the rest, were to mark down what 
we estimated the distance between the top of two 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 245 

waves to be, and also what we conjectured the 
perpendicular height to be from the lowest hol- 
low betwixt the waves. On comparing notes, 
we averaged the distance from the top of one 
wave to the top of the next, to be at least seven 
or eight times the length of the ship, and the per- 
pendicular height at least forty feet. Whether we 
were any thing near the truth, perhaps future ex- 
periments may show. In talking of the sea, I may 
mention what may be thought rather a remarkable 
circumstance. In a voyage from Carolina to Scot- 
land, in December 1826, the captain and I ob- 
served, that not one day had passed during the 
whole voyage, in which we had not seen some birds 
of one kind or other. The most common bird to 
be seen in all parts of the Atlantic, and at a great 
distance from land, is the Stormy Peterel, called 
Mother Carey's Chicken by the sailors. It is 
most generally seen in stormy weather, and seems 
to delight amid the tumult of contending waters, 
skimming alonoj the mountain billows with incre- 
dible velocity ; at other times, fluttering in the 
wake of the ship, but never alighting even for a 
moment. In this voyage also I may mention, that 
from our leaving Charleston light-house, until we 
were within fifty miles of Cape-clear, we never saw 
a single vessel of any description, at least from off 

the deck. 

x 3 



246 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER XVI. 

COAST OF CAROLINA — SULLIVAN'S ISLAND — SIR PETER PARKER — 
APPEARANCE OF CHARLESTON AND ENVIRONS — CLIMATE — PRICKLY 
HEAT — MOSQUITOES, &C. — CHURCHES— SABBATH — METHODISTS — 
PUBLIC BUILDINGS — ORPHAN HOUSE — EARL OF CHATHAM — FUNE- 
RALS — MARKETS — THEATRES — BALLS, &C DUELLING ANEC- 
DOTES. 

In approaching the coast of Carolina, the first vi- 
sible indication of land that meets your eye, is a 
low dark ridge appearing in the horizon. This is 
merely the top of the pine trees. Upon a nearer 
approach, a low white sandy beach comes into 
view, and the appearance of the country is by no 
means flattering. There is a bar of sand across 
the opening, which forms Charleston harbour and 
roads ; and this has often proved fatal to ships, — 
the depth of water on this bar, at low-water, being 
only twelve or thirteen feet, and the highest spring 
tide rises only about seven feet on this coast. 
Having crossed the bar, you have Sullivan's Island 
on your right, studded with its numerous wooden 
houses, painted white or yellow, the roof red ge- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 247 

nerally, and all furnished with piazzas. The ap- 
pearance of these, to the eye of a stranger from 
Britain, is what he might conceive to be of a town 
in the East Indies or China. This island is mere- 
ly a sand bank, with a few shrubs here and there. 
The houses are mostly elevated on posts, to give a 
free passage to the blast, otherwise they would 
have a chance of being overwhelmed by the sand 
drifting on them. Walking is very disagreeable, 
the feet sinking deep at every step, excepting at 
low water, when there is a fine sandy beach as 
hard and as smooth as marble, upon which the in- 
habitants drive their carriages in the cool of the 
evening. This island has for many years been the 
refuge of the Charleston people when visited by 
the yellow fever. Although only six miles distant 
from the city, it has generally been free from in- 
fection, until in 1824, when the yellow fever broke 
out, and was more dangerous than in the city. In 
some former seasons, there have been upwards of 
five thousand inhabitants on this island at one 
time. The price of boarding, at such a period, is 
very high, being from eight to eighteen dollars 
(.^1 16s. to 3£4> Is.) per week. There is a strong 
fort here, (Fort Moultrie) mounting many heavy 
guns ; each painted on the breech with the name 
of some American hero, as Washington, Lee, 



248 SIX years' residence 

Gates, Fayette, 8:c. The outside of this fort is 
surrounded with many strong palHsades of Pal- 
metto logs, into which cannon balls will lodge 
without splitting them. The rampart is composed 
of turf and sand. There is a fort on the opposite 
shore, so that no vessel can pass up the channel 
without being exposed to the fire of both forts. 
Sir Peter Parker made an attack on Sullivan's 
Island in 1778 ; but partly owing to the ignorance 
of his pilots, was repulsed with the loss of a fri- 
gate and some smaller vessels, and a considerable 
number of men. Lord Nelson was a lieutenant 
on board one of his ships in this affair. The 
Americans say, that Sir Peter Parker had a very 
narrow escape here, having had the hinder part of 
his breeches carried off by a cannon ball. They as- 
sert that this is no joke, but a real historical fact. 
Close to the city there is another fort ; but some 
people think that the principal defence of Charles- 
ton against enemies, as it is found to be against 
hurricanes, is the bar. 

The city of Charleston, like the most part of the 
sea ports in America, is situated on a neck of land 
between two rivers, the Ashley on the south, and 
the Cooper on the north ; these unite at the town, 
and enter the ocean about ten miles to the east of 
Charleston. The latitude of this city is 32° 42' 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 249 

north, and longitude 80° 1]^ west of London. 
The appearance of it is quite different from that of 
the northern cities, the houses having a lighter 
and more airy look ; many of them are built of 
brick, and slated, but the greater part are of wood 
covered with shingles. Some of these wooden 
houses have a magnificent appearance, many of 
them having lofty porticoes in front in the Grecian 
style ; and although the pillars are of timber, being 
finely painted, they convey an idea of grandeur. 
The streets mostly cross each other at right angles ; 
a few of them are about eighty feet wide, and being 
planted on each side with trees at the outer ediie 
of the footpath (which is generally of brick), have 
a lively and cheerful appearance. These trees are 
called *' Pride of India ;" the blossom is some- 
thing like lilac, and the smell is agreeable. Only 
two or tliiee of the principal streets are paved in 
the middle, which was done at great expense, the 
stones being mostly brought from the northern 
States, and many of them from Greenock. The 
rest of the streets, excepting a footpath of brick 
on each side, present nothing but bare sand, 
which is disagreeable in blowy weather, and renders 
walking unpleasant in rainy weather. There are 
no public walks about Charleston, excepting a sort 
of terrace at the water side called the Battery, 



250 SIX years' residence 

which is but limited. In every direction from the 
city, the roads are formed through deep sand ; and 
alongst the banks of the rivers walking is impossi- 
ble, unless up to the middle amongst reeds and 
mud. Some geographers describe the environs 
of Charleston as being " beautiful beyond descrip- 
tion,'' but this is far from being the case. Many 
gentlemen's gardens in the city and suburbs are 
adorned with rich and beautiful plants, and in 
spring the woods are ornamented with a profusion 
of jessamine, and some other elegant shrubs, but 
on the whole, the look of the country is but dry. 

The climate of Charleston being very mild in 
winter, you may in general see roses, and some 
other flowers in bloom as late as Christmas, and 
the spring commences early. Peach trees begin 
to blossom about the middle, or towards the end of 
February. The v/inter, so called, is of short con- 
tinuance, yet there are some very bitter cold days, 
and ice may sometimes be seen half an inch thick 
in the morning, but soon disappears in the rays of 
the meridian sun. Snow has only fallen once in 
Charleston in the course of twenty years. The 
winter and spring are reckoned the most agree- 
able seasons, the summer being uniformly warm, 
and the autumn generally sultry and debilitating. 
There are occasionally weeks of weather in winter 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 251 

as fine as any summer weather in Scotland. A 
north-west whid in winter always brings along 
with it cold weather ; but the sky is clear, and al- 
though the air is piercing in the shade, it is quite 
agreeable in the sun. I have seen the thermometer 
at the freezing point in the shade, but being placed 
so as to receive the direct rays of the sun, out of 
the influence of the blast, it rose to 130 ! Change- 
able as the weather is accounted in Britain, it is 
not subject to such violent transitions as it exhibits 
here in winter. From many years' accurate ob- 
servation in Scotland, the greatest range of the 
thermometer in any twenty-four hours, has not 
been known to exceed twenty-seven or twenty-eight 
degrees, which generally happened in summer. 
In Charleston I have observed the thermometer at 
mid-day as high as eighty to eighty-two degrees, 
and have seen ice before sunrise next morning, 
thereby indicating a fall of at least fifty degrees. 
It has been remarked, that there are never more 
than three days of remarkably cold weather in suc- 
cession ; the same observation holds in regard to 
the heat in summer. From the first of May, 
until the beginning of November, the weather 
may be reckoned steadily warm. In some seasons, 
from the first of June till the end of August, the 
thermometer has never indicated less than 82° 



252 SIX years' residence 

either night or day. During the night the heat 
feels most oppressive ; and as the musquitoes are 
most troublesome then, sound sleep can hardly be 
obtained ; this, however, may be productive of one 
good effect, by creating the habit of early rising. 
Few people who regard their health, lie in bed after 
sunrise in the warm season. People generally have 
their marketing over so early as from five till seven 
o'clock in the morning, and you will often perceive 
ladies busily employed in shaping at this early pe- 
riod of the day, although many of them make 
amends for this, by taking a 7iap or siesta in the 
afternoon. Strangers are generally enjoined to 
keep their bed-room windows closed during the 
night, to exclude the air. In very hot weather, I 
have found it almost impossible to comply with this, 
even while sleeping in a large apartment, and ra- 
ther than run the risk of being half suffocated with 
stagnant air, I have always adopted the plan of 
keeping the window sash up, and merely closing 
the blinds. As there is generally a complete cover- 
ing of pavilion gauze placed over the beds here, I 
conceive that the night air can be breathed in safe- 
ty through such a medium; may it not serve a 
similar purpose as the iron gauze which surrounds 
Sir H. Davy's safety lamp ? It may be remarked, 
that it is reckoned much safer in this climate, to 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 253 

sleep ill a chamber up two or three stairs, than 
upon the ground floor. 

The orange and the fig grow here in plenty ; the 
former is mostly of the sour or bitter kind. The spe- 
cies of fifj which grows in Charleston, comes forth 
without any blossom — when ripe they are excellent 
and wholesome. A common breakfast with some 
of the French people, who are considered a tem- 
perate race of men, is bread and butter, with a 
plateful of fresh figs and a tumbler of claret. 

The average quantity of rain falling annually in 
Charleston, is about forty- five inches, but there are 
not half the number of rainy days we have in Scot- 
land. The mean annual heat is 63. 

As Charleston is situated nearly 23J degrees 
south from Glasgow; the sun on the shortest day 
appears at the former place, at an elevation the same 
as it does at Glasgow on the 20th March. And at 
this latter period, it appears as high in Charleston 
as it does in Glasgow at midsummer. 

Strangers are (particularly the first summer 
after their arrival here,) obnoxious to a disorder, 
which, although unattended with fatal consequen- 
ces, is v^ry annoying. This disease, the proper 
title of which, is "Herpes," is commonly called 
" Prickly heat." The person labouring under it, 
feels, particularly while in bed, as if ten thousand 

Y 



254 SIX years' residence 

needles were at once run into his body, attended 
with a most intolerable des^ree of itchiness. The 
whole body sometimes, from the crown of the head 
to the sole of the foot, appears as if completely 
flayed. I have seen instances, where the patient 
was obliged to sit during the whole day in his shirt 
upon a chair, the least additional clothing causing 
an increase of pain ; and frequently have I been 
obliged, in almost actual desperation, to pour a ba- 
sin of cold water suddenly over my head ; this how- 
ever only afforded momentary relief, and is besides 
very imprudent. The best method to alleviate the 
pain, is to rub over the body frequently with spirits 
or sugar of lead water. The only comfort one en- 
joys under this most tormenting disease, is the as- 
surance of the Faculty, that while labouring under 
it they are free from the attacks of more danger- 
ous disorders. The surest and safest remedy for this 
disease, is the return of cool weather, which at^once 
exterminates both it and yellow fever, should it pre- 
vail, and likewise these tantalizing insects musque- 
toes. In talking of these pests of this climate, I can- 
not refrain from mentioning an occurrence, which 
caused no small degree of mirth in Charleston, in 
the sun.mer of 1822. A sturdy Highlander arriv- 
ed with his family from Greenock. At this season 
the musquetoes were quite in heart to attack fresh 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 255 

blood. The Highlander, previous to his going up 
the country, spent some days in the city, during 
which, being naturally desirous of viewing the ra- 
rities of the town, he perambulated the streets in 
his philabeg, a dress which did not fail to draw 
after him, wherever he went, an amazing crowd of 
astonished negroes. Some of his countrymen, who 
felt almost ashamed at hearing many ludicrous re- 
marks passed upon a Scotsman, civilly hinted to 
him the propriety of his providing himself with 
inexpressibles ; and at last some of them who ima- 
gined, that possibly Donald might not be altoge- 
ther flush in money matters, delicately offered to 
purchase the necessary article. This fairly set the 
Caledonian blood a-boiling; Donald took it as a 
high insult, and exclaimed, " May pe, she could 
puy as many preeks as the pest o' them, an' mair 
too, but wad she pe changing her claise for theiu 
puppies?" What, however, neither the entreaties 
nor the eloquence of his countrymen could do, was 
effected in a pretty short time by the musquetoes, 
and Donald was forced to give in and submit to be 
breeched. 

Charleston contains a sufficient number of 

churches to' accommodate the inhabitants, many 

of them spacious and handsome. The principal 

Episcopalian church (Saint Michaels) is a large 

Y 2 



256 SIX years' residence 

building, adorned with one of the finest steeples fn 
America, one hundred and seventy-five feet in height; 
there is a staircase by which one may ascend to 
within a few feet of the top, the view from which is 
very imposing, the city appearing like a regularly 
laid out pleasure garden, studded with flower boxes. 
The view towards the land appears as level as the 
ocean, the horizon being bounded by the dark 
green forests of pine. In this steeple, there is a 
good ring of bells, which were sent out in a present 
by queen Caroline, consort of George the Second. 
Besides Saint Michaels, there are three other Epis- 
copal churches, three Presbyterian, three Metho- 
dist, two Roman Catholic, one Baptist, one Inde- 
pendent, one Universalist, one Lutheran, one 
French Protestant, one Mariners, the Orphan House 
chapel, and a Jews' Synagogue ; some of them ele- 
gantly fitted up, and all of them spacious and 
roomy. The pews are made very wide in the 
churches in this warm climate. It has been esti- 
mated, that the churches in this city are regularly 
attended by about twenty thousand people, out of 
a population of thirty-eight thousand. One of the 
largest churches is called the " Circular church" 
from its round form, it is eighty-eight feet in dia- 
meter, and surmounted by a dome. In most, if not 
in all of these churches, the liberality of the Caro- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. ^57 

linians is exhibited in a very amiable light, one side 
of the gallery being appropriated solely for the use 
of strangers, and the other side for coloured 
people. 

The sabbath is more religiously observed here 
in general by the inhabitants, than their northern 
brethren are willing to allow ; and, of late years at 
least, one congregation of Presbyterians are exhi- 
biting visible proofs of their advancement in piety, 
by assembling at church for prayer on week days, 
as early as five o'clock in the morning. The fe- 
male sex seem chiefly to be actuated by such feel- 
ings. I have observed at a sacrament in a presby- 
terian church in Charleston, from two to three hun- 
dred white females at the Lord's table,— the num- 
ber of men who came forward was three ! the black 
people who were afterwards served came forward, 
to the number of several hundreds of both sexes. 
Two or three Scotish merchants of the first re- 
spectability in the city, perform family worship re- 
gularly, — this is rather an uncommon circumstance, 
however. In the churches in this place, there are 
occasionally concerts of sacred music performed on 
Sunday evening after sermon for charitable purpo- 
ses. The sound of French Horns, Bassoons, Vio- 
lins, &c. has at first a strann-e effect on the ear of 

o 

a raw Scotsman on Sunday. I once stept into a 
Y 3 



258 SIX years' residence 

French Catholic meeting house, where, for want of 
a more noble instrument, a gentleman, snugly seat- 
ed in an arm chair, performed a Solo on the vio- 
lin, accompanying the same with his voice. 

The coloured people chiefly attend the Metho- 
dist and Baptist meetings ; and, in general, the 
Word seems to have a very powerful effect upon 
them. When the Methodist preachers perceive 
that their discourse operates keenly on the senses 
of the Negroes, they leave no stone unturned to 
work up the feelings of their audience to an extra- 
vagant and ridiculous pitch, and depict hell tor- 
ments with all the logic they can muster. The 
sermons occasionally, but the prayers always, are 
intermingled with the yelling and hooting of the 
Negroes ; the women tearing their caps off, beating 
their heads on the posts, and make use of a thou- 
sand other gestures, quite indecorous in a place of 
worship. The Methodists are certainly, however, 
very sincere in their endeavours to convert this be- 
nighted and neglected class of mankind; and upon 
the evening of a Sunday, the song of praise may 
frequently be heard to issue from the hovel of the 
Negro, whilst all is quiet in the mansions of the 
wealthy. I may, however, remark by the way, 
that the religious fervour of the Negroes does not 
always break forth in strains the most reverential 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 259 

or refined. The downfall of the arch-fiend forms 
the principal topic of their anthems. A few lines 
recollected at random may serve as an example, 
as — 

" Sturdy sinners, come along-, 

" Hip and thigh we'll pull hira down, 

" Let us pull old Satan down, 

" We shall g-et a heavenly crown," &c. &c. 

Or, 

" Old Satan, come before ray face 
" To pull my kingdom down, 
" Jesus come before my face 
" To put my kingdom up. 

" Well done, tankee, Massa Jesus. 
Halleluja," &c. 

The State House is an extensive and elegant 
building. There are several fine buildings occupied 
as banks. The Custom- House and Post-Office de- 
partments are conducted in a handsome solid build- 
ing, erected during the British sway. Some towns 
in America are indebted for many of their most 
substantial and useful buildings to their former 
masters. 

St Andrew's Hall is quite an elegant building, 
belonging to the Scotish Society. It contains a spa> 
cious Assembly Room, &c. It was furnished up as 
a residence for President Munroe in his tour 
through the Southern States in 1818. 



260 SIX years' residence 

The Orphan House in the suburbs is a spacious 
building, in which a great number of destitute 
children are supported and educated. There is a 
chapel attached to this establishment, in which di- 
vine service is performed everj^ Sunday by all the 
different clergymen of the city in rotation : there 
is a fine painting of " Christ blessing little chil- 
dren" to be seen here. In the court, in front of 
the large building, there is a marble statue of Wil- 
liam Pitt, earl of Chatham, erected by the Caro- 
linians in honour of that great man, as the inscrip- 
tion expresses, " for his noble and disinterested 
conduct in vindicating the rights of the Americans, 
the true sons of Britain !" 

Charleston is by no means destitute of charita- 
ble institutions ; on the contrary, in times of sick- 
ness, strangers in want of assistance have been 
well looked after, and have received every atten- 
tion from the inhabitants. Numerous instances have 
occurred wherein ladies of respectability have 
shown much sympathy towards people to whom 
they were perfect strangers, administering with 
their own hands every necessary of which they 
stood in need, and granting them effectual assist- 
ance on their recovery. This trait in the character 
of the Carolinian ladies must certainly reflect upon 
them great credit. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 261 

Funerals are attended here by males and fe- 
males indiscriminately. No liquors are served round 
as in Scotland. An invitation to the friends and 
acquaintances ot the family of the deceased is insert- 
ed in the newspapers, which serves in place of 
funeral letters. If a minister is present, a prayer 
is offered up, and an exhortation given at the 
house of the deceased ; but if the person has been 
well known and respectable, a short funeral ser- 
mon is delivered in the church, into which the 
coffin is carried and placed upon stools during the 
service. Part of a psalm or hymn is sung ; and the 
tunes generally selected on such occasions, are as- 
sociated with the warmest and earliest recollections 
of Scotsmen. 

Carpenters here generally keep a large assort- 
ment of different sized coffins ready made, as peo- 
ple are interred on the same day on which they 
die, or the next at farthest. You will see shop- 
windows in various parts of the city stuck full of 
coffin plates and mounting, which is by no means 
an agreeable sight to strangers during a time of 
sickness. Coffins for the better sort of people are 
made of mahogany, and cost from twenty to thirty 
dollars. The corpse is generally dressed in the 
same kind of apparel as when the person was in 
life, excepting the want of the coat in males. 



262 SIX years' residence 

The markets in Charleston are built "on the 
same plan as those of Philadelphia, only upon a 
much more limited scale ; and they are but poorly 
supplied in general, provisions being much higher 
than in the north. Cattle are frequently im- 
ported alive from New York. There is generally 
a good supply of pork and venison. Deer are 
brought in almost every day from the country. 
Those about the size of a calf of two months old, 
sell for about two to two and a half dollars per 
quarter. Squirrels also, and opossums are exhi- 
bited for sale. Every article is much dearer than 
in Philadelphia. No article whatever can be pur- 
chased for less than 6^ cents, (the Toth of a dol- 
lar, 3Jd. Carolina currency) that being the small- 
est silver coin used here by white people. No 
coppers are in use, but amongst Negroes. For a 
very few vegetables (what might be procured for 
little more than a halfpenny in Glasgow) you 
must pay S^d. Peaches and melons are cheap in 
their season ; and at all times there is a supply of 
fruit from the West Indies, vessels arriving from 
thence in four days sometimes. Apples are mostly 
imported from New York, and sell pretty high 
occasionally. During the warm season, the mar- 
ket is open on Sunday morning until eight o'clock, 
fresh meat keeping good only for a few hours. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 263 

Fish, in summer, are, in general, sold alive. An 
immense quantity of onions, cabbages, &c. are im- 
ported to this market from the north. A mode- 
rate sized cabbage sells for 7d. and sometimes 
even as high as lOd. The kind of potatoes most 
generally used, are sweet potatoes ; some of which 
are very large. People accustomed to them prefer 
them to all other kinds, although they are not 
liked at first by strangers, tasting somewhat like 
frosted potatoes. Some excellent potatoes are 
raised near Charleston in spring, but are only in 
season for a short time, the heat bringing that sort 
of potatoe too rapidly forward. Ships from Li- 
verpool and Scotland occasionally bring some po- 
tatoes with them, which sell very high when in 
good condition, which is but seldom, unless when 
put up in small hampers. Salt herrings sell high 
also when of a superior quality, and in good order. 
Good English cheese likewise finds a ready sale, 
and any of these dainties to which people from 
Britain have been accustomed. A stranger may 
find a good deal of entertainment in perambulat- 
ing the markets in Charleston, the Negroes use so 
much ceremony with one another, bowing and 
curtseying to the ground, and expressing every 
mark of politeness to each other. On Sundays 
they are all tolerably well dressed ; some of them 



264 SIX years' residence 

richly. The common head dress of females is a 
pullicat handkerchief wrapped round their head ; 
but on holidays, they have hats of the richest 
materials. To judge from appearances, they 
seem quite happy, and give every scope to their 
risible faculties. The Negroes, in general, seem 
to be very clannish^ and the words " Madam," 
« Sir," " Mr," « Daddy," " Mamma," « Broder," 
" Sister," and such like kindly and polite terms, 
are indiscriminately bandied about by these en- 
slaved, but apparently contented creatures. 

The Charleston people are fond of amusement 
and gaiety ; and many of them are remarkably fond 
of keeping up an equipage of some kind or other, 
and do not scruple to stint themselves in many 
comforts of a domestic nature, for the sake of sav- 
ing appearances. On Sunday, the turn out of 
coaches and carriages is astonishing for such a 
small city, many of them very handsome ; but I 
have more than once observed a black fellow 
acting as postilion, who had neither shoe nor 
stocking on his feet, although his jacket and hat 
were adorned with rich livery, and the carriage 
bore all the insignia of nobility on the outside. 

The Theatre is a large brick building neatly 
fitted up. There is generally a tolerably good 
company of actors in winter. I saw Mr Kean 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 265 

here in 1826. He performed fifteen nights at two 
hundred dollars (£45) per night. The price of 
admission to the boxes and pit is one dollar, and 
no " coloured people or dogi^ are admitted, as ex- 
pressed in the play-bills. There are several so- 
cieties who have monthly balls in winter, at which 
there is generally a good display of ladies, who 
are perhaps somewhat a little reserved to strangers 
at first. They are usually sprightly and elegant 
in their appearance, though their complexion is 
very pale and delicate. They have often been re- 
marked for their amiable manners. 

In this climate, the human frame, particularly 
the female, arrives much sooner at perfection than 
in our cold clime. I have seen a mother at thir- 
teen, and a grandmother at thirty-one. Young 
ladies are, in many instances,] married as early as 
fifteen or sixteen. Females of twenty-five, un- 
married, may be fairly classed in the rank of old 
maids. Boys assume the habiliments, and acquire 
the habits of men at a very early period. I have 
heard a Carolinian thus boastingly express him- 
self in company : " Our boys at sixteen are as 

much men as Europeans at twenty-five, by ." 

In some respects this is true enough. Many lads 
of fifteen or sixteen are excellent penmen and ac- 
countants, and can transact business with a know- 
z 



26B SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

ledge far above their years; but they also (at 
least on an average) smoke, take a glass of grog, 
attend the theatre, &c. play at billiards, and occa- 
sionally fight a duel. This last accomplishment 
used to be too common in Carolina ; it is now, 
however, by no means gaining ground. I once 
v/as witness to a curious rencontre which took 
place in the box-lobby of the theatre, betwixt two 
striplings of fifteen or sixteen : the one demanding 
from the other, with all the boisterous eloquence 
of offended dignity, the satisfaction due to a gentle- 
7nan, and insisting upon an immediate meeting. 
The hero, who was most indignant, wore a bit of 
crape on his left arm. Upon making some in- 
quiry, I found he was ornamented with this mark 
of mourning in honour of a brother apprentice 
lately deceased, who belonged to the " Barbers 
Society ! !" 

The laws are now very severe against duelling; 
but many serious affairs have taken place within 
the last twenty years. The parties concerned ge- 
nerally decide the matter in another State, and in- 
stantly decamp. A young Scotish gentleman, 
who at present resides in Charleston, having been 
grossly injured by a merchant, found it necessary 
to send him a challenge, the result of which was 
a meeting, in which he received a ball through 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 267 

both legs. The American was so blood-thirsty, 
that he insisted on having a seat procured for the 
wounded man, that he might finish the business. 
This, however, was not allowed ; one of the Scots- 
man's seconds (an honest Hibernian) swearing, 
that if this was their way of doing business, he 
must try a shot with him next. 

About twenty years ago, a fellow who had made 
duelling almost a trade, and who got the credit of 
having sent many a one out of the world, out of 
sheer mischief, intendedly insulted a Scotsman, 
who was reputedly a good tempered man, and at 
last provoked him to retort a little ; he then in- 
stantly challenged the Scot, who was sorely dis- 
mayed, as no one had ever escaped the clutches of 
the duelling hero. His friends, however, advised 
him to demand three or four weeks to practise, 
which could not be refused. At length the meet- 
ing took place, and a great crowd assembled on 
the spot. The Scotsman having the first fire, fortu- 
nately shot his antagonist through the heart, who 
instantly fell. The dead man's second, a bird of 
the same feather, stepping up, looked down at his 
friend with wonderful composure, and perceiving 
the wound, exclaimed with a sort of approving 
grin, " a good shot, by ." 

While upon the subject of duelling, I am tempt- 
z 2 



268 SIX years' residence 

ed to add another anecdote which took place 
about 1822, and excited considerable interest 
among the majority of Scotsmen residing in Ame- 
rica. A General Cadwallader, who has been 
pointed out to me in Philadelphia, and is a very 
gentlemanly-looking man, was one of the managers 
or stewards of a great ball which took place. He 
refused a ticket to Dr P — n, who was professor of 
anatomy in Baltimore, (formerly of Glasgow, and 
now of the London University) alleging that he 
was unfit to appear in such company. The Doc- 
tor, who was born and brought up in a situation 
and rank at least superior to the majority of Ame- 
rican Generals, sent him a challenge, and having 
met, wounded the man-of-war in the arm, and in- 
quired if he was satisfied. The General, not re- 
lishing any more pills of that nature from the 
hands of the son of Galen, and probably imagin- 
ing that the Doctor might naturally enough have 
an eye upon his carcase, as a fit subject for his 
dissecting table, declined farther operations. There 
were few Scotsmen in America, who did not feel 
gratified at the Doctor's prowess, especially as the 
origin of the whole affair was principally to grati- 
fy an unworthy private feeling on the part of the 
American. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 269 



CHAPTER XVII. 

HOSPITALITY — PLANTERS, &C. — LOW COUNTRY — WOODS — COUNTRY 
CHURCH — WILD TURKEYS AND GAME — SNAKES — COUNTRY INN — 
WAGGONERS. 

The Carolinians have been famed for their hospi- 
tality ; but this virtue does not, in general, flourish 
so much in great towns, as where population is 
thin. Good letters of introduction generally pro- 
cure suitable treatment to strangers in every civi- 
lized country. This holds good here as well as 
elsewhere. Like the rest of the Americans, the 
Carolinians possess an openness and frankness of 
manner peculiar in a considerable degree, to the 
whole country. The higher orders of society in 
Carolina will stand a comparison at any time, for 
intelligence and politeness, with their northern 
brethren, and they are perhaps more free of that 
niggardliness of disposition, which distinguishes 
many of the latter, whose whole soul and mind are 
centered in the accumulation of wealth. 

The failings of the planters are of an opposite 

nature ; extravagance and thoughtlessness being a 
z3 



2T0 SIX years' residence 

more prominent feature in their general character. 
Notwithstanding there are severe penalties against 
gambling, many a fair estate has been thrown away 
in Carolina, by a turn of the dice. The planters 
at horse races and similar meetings, used to bet 
away Negroes like so many shillings or dollars : 
this ruinous practice is now only carried on in pri- 
vate. 

The planters look upon themselves as a rank 
altogether above merchants and traders, and pos- 
sess many high-flown notions. The unlimited 
power they exercise over their slaves, has a ten- 
dency no doubt to render them haughty and impe- 
rious. In the country, a stranger of tolerable ad- 
dress, meets with much civility and kindness ; if so 
inclined, he may travel in the back country for 
months free of expense. There may perhaps be 
something of selfishness in this hospitality, as the 
presence of a stranger may serve as a relief to the 
sameness of a country life ; in most cases, however, 
a desire of being serviceable to others, may be the 
prevailing sentiment. 

I have more than once experienced genuine 
marks of kindness and civility, not forty miles out 
of Charleston, from persons whom I had never seen 
previously. Being one of a party of four or five, and 
having mistaken our way for several miles, the first 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 271 

white person we fell in with, sent a servant along 
with us as guide, but in a few minutes afterwards 
rejoined us, that he might have the satisfaction of 
putting us on our way himself; he then insisted on 
our returning to dine with him and stay till next 
morning. In an hour or two afterwards, having 
stopped a few minutes at a canal, until such time 
as a boat passed through a lock, a gentleman who 
observed we were strangers, invited us to ride eight 
or nine miles farther to the place where he resid- 
ed, and promised to show us any thing curious 
which the country afforded, provided we extended 
our visit until next day. This hospitable gentle- 
man would of course have had to entertain our- 
selves and horses. Such unsolicited kindness, cer- 
tainly exhibits the kindly feelings of the Carolini- 
ans in a very prominent degree. 

The planters in the low country, generally spend 
the summer in town or at the north, the whole of 
the flat country being sickly from June till Novem- 
ber. It is almost certain death for a person resid- 
ino- in the city, to spend only one night a few miles 
out of town at this season; people may travel 
through the low country in the mail coach with 
safety, provided they keep from sleeping at night, 
and two nights at most will place them out of the 
reach of the pestilential vapours of these swamps. 



272 SIX years' residence 

Country people venturing into the city in summer, 
run a like risk of falling sick. 

The ground upon which Charleston stands, is 
elevated only a few feet above high water mark, 
and the whole country for about eighty or a hun- 
dred miles presents an almost unbroken level. Oc- 
casionally a gentle declivity may be seen like a 
long swell of the sea, but not a rock, not even a 
stone as large as a man's head is to be seen in the 
low country ; at the distance of a hundred miles 
from the coast, the land gradually rises into emi- 
nences, and about two hundred miles up, there are 
considerable mountains. The upper part of the 
State is beautifully interspersed with hill and dale, 
and is deemed healthy. The low country is cover- 
ed with woods, part of which is swampy, rendering 
the atmosphere very unhealthy at certain seasons. 
Even so early as the month of April, in travelling 
through a swamp not twenty miles from Charles- 
ton, I have been under the necessity of holding a 
handkerchief to my nose, to save my olfactories 
from the noxious exhalations. Any one who has 
experienced the abominable effluvia arising from a 
lint-hole in Scotland may form some idea of those 
swamps. The roads in Carolina are merely formed by 
cutting away through the trees. The soil being sand, 
travelling is rendered very heavy and slow. Where 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 273 

the road crosses a swamp, it is formed of trees, in 
driving over which for any considerable time, you 
run no small risk of having your bones dislocated ; 
even one mile of such travelling is most annoying. 
These are sometimes styled corduroy roads. 

The woods in Carolina have a most majestic 
appearance, the trees of which they consist, 
being from one hundred and twenty to one hun- 
dred and fifty feet and even one hundred and 
sixty feet high. I have measured pines which had 
yielded to the force of the autumnal hurricanes, 
fifty-five yards in length, although the trunk did not 
exceed' twenty inches in diameter, but as straight 
as can be imagined ; these serve well for masts and 
yards. Many trees of the hardwood kind, are cover- 
ed from the topmost branch down to the ground, 
with a kind of long grey moss, which hangs down 
in festoons, and gives a venerable appearance to 
these " monarchs of the wood." This moss is very 
useful ; after being well beaten, it makes an excel- 
lent substitute for horse-hair, in stuffing mattresses, 
chairs, and other articles of household furniture. 
It forms a considerable article of commerce, great 
quantities of it being shipped to the northern 
States. 

The roads through the forests are in some places 
straight for a long distance, and appear like an in- 



2T4 

terminable lane enclosed on each side by a wall o( 
vast height. There is consequently little to attract 
the attention of a traveller in these woods. Great 
flocks of red birds and the gambols of the squirrel 
occasionally enliven the scene, and a field of cot- 
ton now and then gives a relief to the sameness of 
the wilderness. The Negroes who work in the 
fields, have tasks assigned to them daily; and I have 
heard a Jamaica planter remark, that the appear- 
ance of a gang of Negroes at work in the West 
Indies, where they keep close together and enliven 
the hours of labour by singing, is much livelier than 
in Carolina. 

I recollect being somewhat struck, by the ap- 
pearance of a country church about twenty-five 
miles from Charleston. It was a small wooden 
building situated about an hundred yards off the 
public road, and of course almost concealed in the 
forest. The door of this church was merely fas- 
tened with a latch ; there were no glazed windows 
in it, much less was it adorned in the interior with 
any ornament, nor did the peal of the organ ever 
disturb the silence that reigned in this remote cor- 
ner. The communion table stood in the middle of 
the area, surrounded by forms ; and I learned that 
it was customary for travellers (as there was no 
inn within several miles,) to sit down and regale 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 275 

themselves with what provender they might have 
along with them. Our party preferred taking 
their collation by the brink of a well of delicious 
water. I found a large bible and a psalm book 
lying openly on the desk, and it surely must be al- 
lowed, that such a circumstance as this indicates 
in a powerful degree, the correct and decorous 
feeling of the people in general. Without draw- 
ing direct comparisons, I think it is somewhat 
doubtful, if even the sanctity of the house of God 
would protect the bible in such an open situation 
in some countries. 

The planters in Carolina are accustomed to 
good living, without being at much expense in pro- 
viding luxuries for the table; their own estates 
supplying them with abundance of beef, mutton, 
pork, poultry, &c. and the forests with a variety 
of game. Deer are plenty, and there is little diffi- 
culty in shooting them. Wild turkeys are reck- 
oned superior in flavour to the domestic kind, and 
are common enough in most places. I have seen 
one of 35 lb. weight put down at dinner. A bird 
of this size was brought to the inn where I lodged 
a few nights. When held up by the legs at arm's 
length, the head of this animal reached the ground : 
the spurs on its legs were four or five inches long. 
The man who shot this turkey remained out all 



276 

night on the watch in the swamp. *This would 
prove very injurious to an European, but has no 
effect on a Carolinian woodsman. He informed 
me that he imitated the gobbling of the turkey, 
and by that means kept the game close to him all 
night, and at day break perceived it perched upon 
a tree. He generally used a single ball on these oc- 
casions. I was informed that turkeys of fifty-five 
or sixty lbs. weight had been shot in Carolina. They 
generally go in flocks, and run upon the ground 
with amazing speed. 

There are no hares in America, at least of the 
same species as the European, but an animal of an 
appearance something between that of a hare and 
a rabbit is common enough : their flavour is not 
very exquisite. Squirrels and opossums are served 
at table occasionally, and racoons are sometimes 
eaten by the Negroes. I have tasted one for experi- 
ment sake, but would hardly be induced to repeat 
the operation. 

In the wilder parts of the country, both bears and 
wolves are sometimes found to make incursions on 
the domestic tribe, but there is little danger to be 
apprehended from them to mankind. In the low 
country, alligators of a large size swarm in the 
rivers and swamps ; they are sometimes found from 
ten to thirteen feet in length, and generally appear 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 277 

floating on the surface of the water or lying on the 
bank of a river like a log of timber ; they make 
no scruple of seizing deer, dogs, &c. whilst in the 
water, but seldom attack animals on dry land. A 
Negro woman many years ago, had her leg bit off 
by one of these creatures, whilst bathing in a river 
of Carolina. They are far from exhibiting such 
ferocity as the crocodile of the Nile, but their ap- 
pearance is not a whit less forbidding. 

There are a great variety of snakes in Carolina, 
some of them of a venomous nature. The rattle- 
snake is the most dreaded, but few fatal accidents 
occur from this tribe, as they invariably give warn- 
ing before biting, except in wet seasons. People 
who work in places exposed to these animals, wear 
leggings of very thick woollen, which absorb the 
poison before the teeth can reach the skin. The 
poison of the rattlesnake is injected through the 
teeth, (not by means of the sting or tongue,) which 
are tubular, at the moment the wound is inflicted ; 
in some cases, death has ensued in the course of an 
hour after the bite of this reptile has been in- 
flicted. 

Much has been said regarding the power pos- 
sessed by snakes of charming their prey ; from my 
own experience, I would be inclined to think that 
this is partly true. I have come across many 
2 a 



278 SIX years' residence 

snakes in my rambles through the woods in differ- 
ent parts of America, and must confess, that at the 
first moment of encountering one, I felt as if I'ivet- 
ted to the spot, and could hardly draw my eyes off 
it for some time ; I also felt a sort of sensation 
creep over me, very like to a cold fit of the ague, 
but in my own case invariably attended with an 
irresistible impulse to trample upon them with my 
boot, for I never wore shoes in my walks through 
the woods of America. 

These reptiles upon the whole, are certainly ra- 
ther disagreeable concomitants to a country life in 
America, but even in some parts of our own happy 
Scotland, I have seen considerable apprehension 
entertained from the common adder. 

While upon an excursion to the country about 
fifty miles from Charleston, in April, 1820, I was 
much struck with the interesting and out-of-the- 
way situation of an inn, where I spent a few days. 
The landlady owned a farm and about forty Ne- 
groes, but there was not above ten acres of land 
cleared close to the house ; the prospect from the 
door was consequently very circumscribed, and I 
think that the sun was not visible over the top of 
the pine trees, for fully an hour after it had risen 
above the horizon. The Negro huts are general- 
ly built in one or two rows, forming a little street ; 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 279 

and I saw one man who was employed in erecting 
a new hut after his task was over : he wrought even 
so late as ten o'clock at night by the light of a fire, 
and seemed to handle his saw and plane with con- 
siderable dexterity. 

About sunset, the different flocks of domestic 
animals, which had been ranging for food througli 
the woods during the whole day, appeared at the 
outer fence; there was, firstly, a few cows, one of 
them with a bell around its neck, than a flock of 
sheep, the old ram similarly accoutred, also a flock 
of goats, then a complete regiment of turkeys fol- 
lowed by a great flock of geese, common poultry, 
&c. the whole of these animals kept up an inces- 
sant noise until admitted to their respective pens. 
I was informed that there was little trouble in rear- 
ing these useful creatures, and it was very seldom 
that any went amissing. I observed two enormous 
dogs about the house, one of which was much dis- 
figured with wounds about the head; the landlady 
informed me that about two months previously, she 
had been much pestered by a large wolf, which 
came in to the yard at night, and committed some 
damage among the sheep. The two dogs had suf- 
fered greatly from a severe engagement which took 
place one night with this ravenous animal. It was 
shot at last one moon-light night from an upper 
2 A 2 



280 SIX years' residence 

window by a person who was in the inn, and was found 
to measure five feet in length exclusive of the tail. 

o 

At this early season, the lady of the inn apolo- 
gised to us for the want of strawberries, her crop 
having been all consumed the week previously. 

At night the deep bellow of the bullfrog, and the 
mournful, yet pleasing cry of the whip-poor-will, 
resounded incessantly throughout the dreary soli- 
tude of the forest. The name of this bird is very 
appropriate'; one would almost think it articulated 
the name whip-poor-will. 

In a corn field here, I observed an old Negro 
who had outlived a hundred years ; his sole occu- 
pation for about three weeks at this season, was to 
stand from sunrise to sunset in the field, and 
cry out occasionally to frighten the crows. He was 
an African, and could not understand one word I 
spoke to him ; I offered him a small silver coin, 
at which he only shook his head ; but my brother, 
who was along with me, pulled out a piece of to- 
bacco, which the old man instantly accepted of. 

Before steam-boats came into general use, an 
immense number of waggons were employed in 
conveying country produce to Charleston ; this 
trade is however now greatly knocked up, to the 
great detriment of many of the store-keepers in the 
upper part of the city. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 281 

These waggons are large, generally drawn by 
four, five, or six horses. Mules are sometimes 
yoked to the same carriage as horses, and as such 
a waggon has at least two drivers, it happens that 
they are occasionally of different complexions, 
forming altogether a strange groupe. The wag- 
goners are very hardy, frequently sleeping out all 
night; at sunset they generally encamp near to a 
tavern and unyoke their horses ; with the assist- 
ance of an axe, they have a large fire blazing in a few 
minutes, and as they carry their provisions along 
with them, commence making supper, which con- 
sists of coarse bread, bacon, coffee, &c. after this 
they throw themselves on the ground with their 
feet towards the fire ; should it rain, they contrive 
to sleep under the waggon. The appearance of 
these men in general is not altogether prepossess- 
ing, although many of them are civil and intelligent. 
They are sometimes rather too apt to exhibit 
proofs of their rudeness to strangers or towns, 
people who may happen to travel alone, asking 
them impertinent questions, such as where they are 
going, what is their business, how much they have 
paid for the coat on their back, &c. and sometimes 
proceeding greater lengths. A company of these 
carriers have been known to force a gentleman to 
come out of his gig, strip to the skin, and walk 
2 A 3 



282 SIX years' residence 

backwards and forwards through a pool of dirty 
water for their amusement. We might however 
as soon estimate the politeness of Scotsmen from a 
band of colliers or coal porters. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 283 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



AUCTIONEERS — SALE OF NEGROES — TREATMENT OF DO. — PUNISH- 
MENT OF DO. — BAD HABITS OF DO INSURRECTION OF NEGEORS IN 

1822 — EXECUTIONS OF DO. — EFFECTS OF RELIGION — REVENGEFUL 
FEELINGS OF NEGROES. 



A GREAT part of the business done in Charles- 
ton is by public auction. There is a street appro- 
priated for this purpose. When the weather per- 
mits, goods offered for sale, are exposed upon a 
table, placed upon the pavement before the vendue 
masters store. The auctioneer has generally a per- 
son called a crier to assist him, who thunders upon 
the table with a small mallet, and bawls out the re- 
spective bodes of intending purchasers, with won- 
derful vociferation, each endeavouring to attract 
most customers by being noisy. I remember of 
having seen one of these criers who procured a 
tambourine,, with which he rattled away in style, 
to the no small discomfiture of his brethren. The 
more respectable auctioneers are fair enough in 
their business, but some of them are not very scru- 



284 SIX years' residence 

pulous about the means they use to obtain a good 
price for their commodities, by bidding upon the 
goods themselves, and causing the crier to bawl 
out prices far above any thing that is actually of- 
fered. Perhaps a countryman strolling about 
these sales, thinking that an article is cheap, as 
people are bidding so fast, inadvertently puts in 
his word, when instantly the article is knocked 
down to him at double its value. The owner of 
the goods may bid as often as he chooses upon his 
own merchandise, and call them in altoijether at 
his option. 

The sale of Negroes is a circumstance of ahnost 
daily occurrence, and of course attracts the notice 
of a stranger. The poor creatures are caused to 
stand upon the auctioneer's table, who, mounted 
alongside of them, states their qualifications, age, 
&c. generally warranting them " sound, sober, ho- 
nest, and no runaway." Intending purchasers 
in the meantime are busily employed in putting 
various questions to the slave, and ascertaining, by 
handling them somewhat in the same manner as a 
butcher does an ox, whether they have ulcers, or 
such like disease about them ; and in the case of 
females, endeavouring to find out whether they 
are likely to have a numerous progeny. The fair 
sex do not scruple to attend these sales now and 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 285 

then, nor are they at times very refined in their 
manipulations. I may state an incident on this 
subject, which was related to me by a young lady 
from Scotland, who, shortly after her arrival in 
Charleston, while perambulating the streets with a 
native lady, was astonished by the latter stopping 
a Negro woman, and inquiring to whom she be- 
longed ? The black, dropping a curtsey, but 
drawing her head up with some importance, re- 
plied, " Me belong to nobody, Ma'am ; I do be 
free woman. Ma'am." The young lady inquiring 
at her Carolinian friend the reason for which she 
addressed the Negress ? received for answer, " Oh, 
nothing at all very particular ; only I am in want 
of a smart wench, and that woman looked as if 
she could bring up a clever young family ! !" This 
lady moved in one of the first circles in Charles- 
ton. 

In most cases, the slaves who are exposed for 
sale seem to feel the ignominy of their situation ; 
females, who are invariably styled " Wenches," 
seldom standing the exhibition without tears, and 
regarding every bid with intense anxiety, much of 
their future comfort depending upon the person 
into whose hands they fall. Families are general- 
ly sold together in one lot ; but in some cases, 
where a division of property takes place amongst 



286 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

heirs, they are unavoidably separated. In ISIT, 
I saw a woman exposed for sale, who seemed 
amazingly agitated, and rent the air with her 
screams ; in consequence of which, the auctioneer, 
in spite of all his exertions to soothe her, was 
obliged to stop the sale, and dismount from the 
table. The sale was postponed for some time. 
In this case, the auctioneer (a Scotsman) seemed 
to feel a good deal for the poor woman, and 
showed much tenderness towards her, even clap- 
ping her upon the shoulder to encourage her to 
stand quiet until the sale was over ; but I could 
not help comparing his behaviour, humane as it 
was, to that of some tender hearted Jack- Ketch, 
using a few blandishments to some poor fellow 
whom he was inducing to allow the halter to be 
put round his neck with a good grace. The Ca- 
rolinians, however, excuse themselves for thus 
rending asunder the tenderest links of humanity, 
by saying, " Oh, there is no danger of a Nigger 
being at a loss for a wife, or a wench in finding a 
husband upon any estate." It is true that the 
Negroes are not excessively punctilious in regard 
to their marriages, such a ceremony seldom tak- 
ing place ; but in many cases, they are as faithful 
and affectionate as if the Pope himself had given 
them his benediction. In all cases, the children 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 287 

of both sexes belong to the owner of the mother ; 
the real father, in many instances, being a very 
doubtful matter. 

I have seen slaves sold who were hardly distin- 
guishable from a white person. I remember of 
having seen a pretty little boy, apparently white, 
brought to the hammer : he was bought by his 
own mother for two hundred dollars. In this case, 
the price was very low, but no one present had 
the inhumanity to bid against the parent. The 
price of Negroes varies in general with the price 
of cotton and rice. In 1817, I saw a family con- 
sisting of father, mother, and nine children ; the 
youngest at the breast, the eldest grown up : they 
brought eight hundred dollars (.^180) each over- 
head. Cotton at this time was 34 cents per lb. 
In 1827, when cotton was at 11 or 12 cents per 
lb. the same lot would not have commanded more 
than three hundred to three hundred and fifty 
dollars overhead. The highest price which I ever 
saw obtained for one Negro was fifteen hundred 
and thirty dollars, (^344 5s.) which was paid for 
a stout young fellow, a cooper, in 1817. In 1823, 
I saw two very old women sold for thirty-five dol- 
lars each {£7 17s. 6d.) An occurrence which 
came under my observation a few days after my 
first arrival in America, excited my astonishment 



288 SIX years' residence 

not a little. I was standing in a weighing-house, 
upon one of the wharfs, when a gentleman came 
in, followed by a little boy, to whom he instantly 
said, " Take off your trowsers, my boy." What, 
in the name of wonder, can this mean, thought I. 
The gentleman perceiving my surprise, said, 
«' Oh, I only wished to see if he was sound ; I 
was coming past Vendue just now, and being in 
want of a boy, bid six hundred dollars for him ; I 
guess he's worth as much." This little story 
may appear strange to some people, I doubt not, 
but I can honestly assure such, that instead of ex- 
aggerating, I have very materially curtailed some 
part of it, some little pruning being absolutely re- 
quisite to render it fit for the eye of delicacy. 
The gentleman I refer to was a Methodist preach- 
er, but also a very considerable merchant. 

Much has been said and written on the subject 
of slavery. The advocates of this outrage on the 
natural rights of man, have generally been men, 
who, regardless of the feelings of a race by them 
deemed a little superior only to the brute creation, 
and designed by nature merely as instruments to 
promote the gratification of their avarice, have sel- 
dom been at a loss to advance plausible reasons Jn 
favour of their usurping the right of dominion 
over these unfortunate beings. Slavery, in the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 289 

abstract, has seldom been advocated by men of 
common humanity ; but merely as a necessary evil 
unavoidably attendant upon the proper cultivation 
of certain districts of the globe producing luxuries 
almost indispensable to the existence of the refined 
portion of mankind. Without pretending to dive 
into the merits of a subject so often discussed by 
able hands, I will endeavour with truth and can- 
dour, to delineate, in a summary manner, the ac- 
tual state of the Negroes in Carolina. 

In the first place, they are as much under the 
dominion of their owners as cattle or horses ; and, 
in some instances, not so well treated. These cases, 
however, are but rare, as their masters, from mo- 
tives of self-interest, furnish them with a certain 
portion of food, and a sufficient quantity of clothing. 
In the country, on most estates, they are allowed 
somewhat more than a quart of Indian corn per 
day, and a little salt, but rarely any fish or animal 
food. Those who are house servants in town, 
live comparatively well ; and such as are trades- 
men have little reason to complain on this score, 
their appearance indicating any thing but starva- 
tion. A common plan adopted by slave owners 
in town, is to furnish, for example, one of their 
Negroes with a horse and cart, which the fellow 
plies with in the streets, and pays his master so 
2 B 



290 SIX years' residence 

many dollars per month out of his earnings ; the 
balance he keeps to himself, and lives as he may 
choose. I have seen many instances of their hav- 
ing been enabled in this manner to lay up as much 
money in the course of a few years, as procured 
their freedom. On the other hand, I know for a 
fact, that the avarice and inhumanity of some plant- 
ers, a few years ago, induced them to try the 
experiment of feeding their slaves with cotton seed, 
(an article which hogs refuse). Their brutality 
met with a suitable reward ; but at the expense of 
the lives of some of their wretched Negroes. 
. In the next place, although the law restricts the 
punishment of slaves to the infliction of thirty-nine 
lashes on any one day, yet they are often beat and 
bruised without mercy, and have, in several in- 
stances, fallen victims to the rage of their inhuman 
masters. A certain man in Charleston, who piques 
himself upon his severity to his Negroes, fre- 
quently ties them up by the thumbs to receive the 
lash. His house has been styled by some of his 
countrymen, the Inquisition; and can it be read 
without horror, this man (savage I mean) is a na- 
tive of Scotland, but surely unworthy of the name. 
Another person in the same place punished his 
Negroes who were in the habit of running away, 
by causing their teeth to be pulled out ; and there 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 291 

js a wretch in the shape of a Captain S , who 

is well known in Charleston, who deliberately 
committed murder, by forcing one of his slaves to 
cut off the head of his comrade on board of a ves- 
sel which belonged to him, which was out at sea 
at the time. This monster walks openly in the 
blessed light of day, unbranded with the mark of 
murderer. The penalty of causing the death of a 
Negro is, by law, a fine of ^100, and the paying 
down his value. This humane and equitable law, 
the Carolinians say was entailed upon them alono- 
with a few other blessings from their British an. 
cestors. Another monster in the shape of huma- 
nity, who had murdered a Negro, and was brought 
to trial, threw down the money in Court with great 
composure, and defied them to do any thing far- 
ther to him. I have heard, to be sure, (but I 
could never yet ascertain it to be more than mere 
report) that a law was proposed, or had actually 
passed in Carolina, declaring the killing of a 
Negro to be punishable as murder ; but even were 
such a law passed, and a Negro to be killed every 
week in the year, no such thing as a conviction 
would take place against a white man, — and why ? 
because the evidence of a Negro is of no conse- 
quence against a white. 

The fair sex also exercise their talents sometimes 
2 B 2 



292 SIX years' residence 

in beating and flogging their Negroes. There 
is one lady in Charleston, (if that title can be ap- 
plied to a she demon) beneath whose blows a 
young woman was sent to Pluto. This honest wo- 
man seemed afterwards a little sorry, and said she 
expected the girl could have stood more ! ! Ano- 
ther mistress of a family in the same city, who 
owns a considerable number of slaves, boasts that 
she has a flogging match almost every day in her 
yard, nor is she at all backward in asserting 
that she can handle a cowskin as well as any he in 
Charleston ; but enough upon this subject. God 
forbid that the foregoing should be an example of 
the general treatment of slaves in Charleston. In 
stating the above, however, I am unapprehensive 
of being contradicted on the subject, as I have 
said nothing but what I know to be truth, and 
were it at all necessary, I could particularize the 
parties. Wherever slavery dwells, its concomi- 
tant evils must attend its footsteps, and the best 
and the most humane amongst mankind will im- 
perceptibly become callous to the feelings of a 
I'ace whom they are taught to look upon from their 
cradle, as an inferior species. Another thing must 
be confessed, and that is, that mild measures seem 
to have little effect upon the generality of Negroes. 
In families, where they are most indulged, they 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 293 

are invariably the worst servants, and even get in- 
solent where they meet with much attention. I 
have seen this exemplified but too often. I was 
acquainted with a lady in Charleston, who was re- 
markably indulgent to her slaves, yet they were 
most undoubtedly the worst gang in the city : As 
one proof of which, three of them were executed 
at the discovery of the Negro plot. 

Negroes in general, are rather too much addict- 
ed to the habits of lying'^and stealing. Little pains 
is, however, taken by their superiors, to inculcate 
the principles of morality in their darkened minds. 
It is true that they are not prohibited to attend 
church ; but the person who would dare to teach 
a Negro to read, subjects himself to a severe pe- 
nalty. This law, the Carolinians say, was another 
legacy from the British. This may, perhaps, be 
the case ; but have they invariably copied the laws 
of their ancestors, where they lean to the side of 
liberality or virtue? It may, of course, be ex- 
pected, that the Negroes are very ignorant. This 
is certainly the case ; although, in a few instances, 
they can both read and write. Those who have 
attained these acquirements, have been taught in 
private. 

In the country, Negroes are not in general com- 
pelled to very severe labour. Upon cotton estates, 
2b 3 



294 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

for instance, a certain task is allotted to them, viz. : 
105 feet square, or a fraction more than a rood 
English measure. Hoeing is the principal opera- 
tion in plantations here; and an expert or indus- 
trious Negro may have his task completed by two 
or three o'clock in the afternoon : he is then at 
liberty to do as he chooses. They have usually a 
small portion of land allowed them along with 
their hut, upon which they raise vegetables, and 
occasionally they keep a pig or two, and some 
poultry. When their task is over, they sometimes 
improve the evening by fishing, or in snaring 
squirrels and rabbits, which they take to market, 
and procure themselves a little tobacco or grog. 
Under these circumstances, the condition of the 
Negro is not so very destitute of enjoyment as 
might be imagined. Their owner generally gives 
them sufficient clothing, and as there is little se- 
vere weather in this climate, they seem tolerably 
comfortable in this respect. Slavery is, however, 
but a bitter pill, however gilded, and that the Ne- 
groes are not insensible to the charms of liberty, 
is very apparent, from their visible discontent un- 
der the thraldom of their oppressors, and their re- 
peated attempts at insurrection. 

The last and most deep laid plot to throw off' 
the yoke of their masters, and at the same time to 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 295 

glut their revenge, took place, or rather was brought 
to light in 1822. The ringleaders of this scheme 
were some of them men of considerable talents, who 
conducted their secret machinations with a good 
deal of ingenuity, but certainly no very great share 
of foresight or prudence ; for even had they suc- 
ceeded in overwhelming the white population of 
Charleston for a time, they could have stood 
but for a short period indeed, against the whole 
force of the United States, which would have been 
inevitably directed against them. The intentions 
of the conspirators were discovered to be of the 
most desperate nature; on a certain day they were 
to set fire to the city in many different places at 
once, attack the guard house, and after possessing 
themselves of all the arms they could lay their 
hands on, then to commence an indiscriminate 
slaughter of every white male, and every black 
woman, reserving all the choice young white ladies 
as companions to their sable conquerors. Amongst 
the papers of the conspirators, lists were discover- 
ed containing the names of many of the most accom- 
plished young ladies in the city, who were reserv- 
ed to a fate ten thousand times more horrible than 
death in its- worst form. A fellow who was coach- 
man to one of the highest authorities in Charleston, 
had his master's daughter designated as his intend- 



296 

ed wife, and it was his intention to save the life of 
his master, as he said that excepting himself, " Mas- 
sa was the best whip hand in the city, and would 
answer extremely well to drive his coach." 

The plot was discovered by one of the conspira- 
tors, who was determined upon saving his master 
from the general massacre, but as his comrades 
would not consent to this, he gave the information 
to a proper quarter, when the whole affair was in- 
stantly blown up, and about three hundred Negroes 
arrested and tried forthwith ; about forty of these 
were executed without delay. Twenty-two were 
Jed to execution one morning, and this operation 
was performed with very little ceremony. The 
chief amongst them addressed his fellow Negroes 
who came to witness the scene, conjuring them to 
remain true to the cause of freedom, and to prose- 
cute their plans against their white tyrants, to the 
death ; those who suffered seemed to take the matter 
quite easy. One fellow who thought the execu- 
tioners were very dilatory, and did not seem to re- 
lish the idea of standing so long with the rope about 
his neck, bawled out to the captain of the city 

guard, " Massa D you take us here for hang, 

why you keep us waiting all day, do hang us Mas- 
sa or let us go home for work." The request of 
this poor sinner was speedily complied with, but 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 297 

that in a very bungling manner, the plank upon 
which the wretches stood not descendinor low 
enough, several of them were kept for some minutes 
with their feet dangling on it. 

The discovery of this plot caused much conster- 
nation in Charleston, especially amongst the fair 
sex, who differ very much in opinion from Desde- 
mona. Although many white men evince a wonder- 
ful inclination for black women, I never could 
yet learn of but one instance, wherein a white wo- 
man was captivated by a Negro, and this was said 
to have taken place in Virginia ; a planter*s daugh- 
ter having fallen in love with one of her father's 
slaves, had actually seduced him; the result of this 
amour, was the sudden mysterious disappearance of 
the young lady. 

The Negroes have been laying plots, and con- 
triving schemes of rebellion for many years back, 
and the white inhabitants have much need to be 
on their guard. The Negroes will plot as long as 
they are in bondage, and their sudden emancipa- 
tion would be quite as bad. Talk to a Carolinian 
of emancipating the Negroes, and he will answer 
" What ! let loose nearly two million devils with a 
knife in one hand and a firebrand in the other." If 
ever emancipation does take place, it must be by 
very gradual steps. Let those who talk of abolish- 



298 SIX years' residence 

ing slavery all at once, stay but for one twelve* 
month in Carolina, and they will see the propriety 
of using much caution in granting slaves their free- 
dom. 

The Negroes upon the whole, seem as comforta- 
ble as the labouring classes of people in other 
countries, only the horrible idea of being another 
man's property, and subject to be beat and abused 
as the caprice of his tyrant may dictate. There 
are, however, thousands of families in Carolina, 
where the sound of the lash is unknown. Upon 
the plantations there are many Negroes who are 
inferior overseers, and these are in general more 
unmerciful to their fellow slaves than white over- 
seers. A mulatto estimates himself greatly above 
a Negro, and it is amusing to hear a fellow who is 
only half a mulatto, abusing a Negro about as 

white as himself, calling him black rascal, and 

such like courteous appellations. 

In one view of the matter, however strange it 
may at first seem, the blacks are much better off 
than in their native Africa. Heaven knows that I 
am far from being an advocate for slavery or op- 
pression in any shape, but I trust that there can be 
no harm in stating a few facts, which I could not 
avoid perceiving. I have repeatedly heard Negro 
slaves express their great happiness, that ever they 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 299 

were brought to a land where the sound of the 
gospel is heard, and where the glad tidings of sal- 
vation are preached to freemen and slaves alike. 
I have often put the question to both male and fe- 
male slaves, who were grown up long before they 
were imported from Africa, whether they would 
not prefer being sent back to their own country ? 
Their answer almost invariably has been, " No, 
Massa ; me like well 'nufF to see old friends, but 
me not like go back to wild Africa now ; me Chris- 
tian now, Massa." 

^ I have seen men who had visited their native 
Africa during the continuance of the slave trade, 
and who might have remained there if so inclined, 
but said, '* Africa too bad place for us now ; Ne- 
ger all do run naked there, we like to go decent 
like Christian." Now, to contemplate matters in 
this light, let it be considered, that in Africa, the 
Negro in general, stands in no very exalted sta- 
tion, excepting the chiefs : the rest are mere slaves, 
and their continual warfare with each other fur- 
nished the slave ships with cargoes of their re- 
spective prisoners. Be their situation, however, 
in their own country as it may, that is no vindica- 
tion for making them slaves in America or the 
West Indies ; but what would Mr Wilberforce, 
or any good man who believes in his bible, say to 



300 SIX years' residence 

the Negro, who expressed his happiness at being 
brought within the influence of the gospel ? It 
surely could not be said, " Better that you had 
retained your freedom in Africa, along with your 
darkness and ignorance of the blessed gospel." 
Can we reasonably or charitably suppose, that the 
gospel has been, and is now preached in vain to 
thousands and tens of thousands 'of Negroes in 
America and the West Indies ? On the contrary, 
there is great reason to hope, that amongst the 
thousands of poor slaves who attend divine wor- 
ship in these countries, there are many, very many, 
who have been turned from darkness to the mar- 
vellous light of the gospel ; and it is no presump- 
tive assertion to say, that thousands have blessed 
the hour in which, although their bodies were de- 
graded with the fetters of bondage, their souls 
were emancipated from slavery and perdition. 

To plunge our fellow creatures into misery and 
slavery for the good of their souls, is, however, ra- 
ther an unsound argument, and would merely be 
adding the sin of hypocrisy to that of avarice ; it 
would be doing evil that good might arise. Such 
arguments, however, have been broached by the 
abettors of slavery, who say, moreover, that they 
are endeavouring to fulfil the scripture, hy forcing 
sinners to come in. It is their own unworthy 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 301 



ends they are serving : little do they care for the 
salvation of the poor Negroes. Be this, however, 
as it may, overlooking the means, let us look to 
the result, and admire the vi^isdom of Providence 
in saving the soul of many a benighted heathen. 
If but one soul has been saved out of a hundred 
Africans who have been made slaves, will not the 
everlasting joy of the one overbalance the tempo- 
rary misery of the rest ? but no thanks to the ava- 
ricious slave dealer. 

Jn their tempers, the Negroes are somewhat 
obstinate, and will go great lengths to be revenged 
on those who have injured them. An instance or 
two may be quoted. A Negro who attended the 
store of a dry-goods merchant in Charleston, and 
who was treated with considerable confidence, 
having one day received a few blows with a cane 
from his master for some fault or mistake, took 
this insult, as he deemed it, so deeply to heart, 
that he went deliberately to the yard behind his 
master's house, and taking up a hatchet, chopped 
off his right hand. His owner, however, has con- 
trived to reap some advantage from the remaining 
hand, and the slave now works as a painter. In 
1826, a case came under my own observation. A 
Negro woman who considered herself not exactly 
well treated by her mistress, said she would be re- 
2 c 



302 SIX years' residence 

revenged on her in some shape or other, and in 
spite of every precaution, actually poisoned her- 
self and her infant child ! 

I may also mention an instance of what may, at 
all events, be called acute feeling. A Negro boy 
who belonged to a store in which there were seve- 
ral young white men as clerks, was repeatedly 
struck and abused by a young puppy who was 
about his own age. One day as the young tyrant 
was engaged in this laudable amusement, the gen- 
tleman to whom the store belonged coming in, in- 
quired what was the matter? The young gentle- 
man said nothing ; but the Negro boy burst into 
tears, exclaiming, " I wish to God, Sir, I was 
white just for one half hour, that I might lick that 
fellow." The sentiments of this Negro, however 
revengeful or unchristian, would have been ap- 
plauded in Rome or Sparta. 

The punishment by law, inflicted upon a Negro 
for striking a white man, is to have his right hand 
cut off. 

Regarding the free coloured population in 
Charleston, of whom there are about 3000, in 
many cases they are much worse off than the 
slaves. In general, they keep a small shop or 
stand; but in most cases, enjoy but few of the 
comforts of life. A rich Mulatto man who keeps 



■^'^ 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 303 

a boarding-house, petitioned the legislature for 
leave to keep a coach ; but this could not be al- 
lowed. There are many other privileges which 
the white inhabitants enjoy, from which they are 
debarred on account of their colour. After the 
discovery of the plot in 1822, a law was enacted, 
which almost completely puts it out of the power 
of any person to emancipate a slave ; it cannot be 
done without an application to the legislature, 
and it will only be granted in some very particu- 
lar case. The Negro who discovered the plot, re- 
ceived his freedom and a thousand dollars as re- 
ward : he was soon afterwards poisoned, it was 
said, by some of the conspirators. 



2c 2 



304 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER XIX. 

INDIANS— SALUBKITY OF CHARLESTON — DRINKING— BAD TEETH, 
&C. — FIRES — EXECUTIONS — WATCHMEN. 

There are now but a few scattered Indians to be 
met with in Carolina. Those who at any time 
visit Charleston, are generally the most worthless 
and dissolute of their tribe. They contrive to 
procure some old clothes and a blanket from the 
charitably disposed, or in exchange for some of 
their rude manufactures. They are generally tall 
and thin, but straight, with long black hair hang- 
ing down their back like a horse's tail. I once 
saw a General M'Intosh accompanied by about a 
dozen attendants. He was a good-natured look- 
ing big fellow, with a face in shape not unlike one 
of the leaden tickets used by the Sun-fire Office. 
His nose, chin, and forehead were well plastered 
with red paint. A large plume of feathers on his 
head distinguished him from the people. 

The men are usually furnished with a bow and 
arrows, and will hit the smallest coin at a conside- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 305 

rable distance. They always prefer sleeping on 
the ground, or in a shed, to a dwelling-house. 
With all their poverty, they look upon the Ne- 
groes with ineffable contempt. A party of Semi- 
nole chiefs who visited Charleston in 1826, were, 
some of them, noble-looking men, particularly one 
who was above six feet high, and formed like a 
Hercules. This man had quite a Roman counte- 
nance, and walked with much dignity. His dress 
was most superb, being adorned with silks, ribbons, 
feathers, and an inconceivable quantity of beads. 
Some of these chiefs in Florida, and the back 
part of Georgia, are men possessed of great wealth 
in cattle, horses, &c. I knew a gentleman who, 
in his journey to New Orleans, through the wil- 
derness, was handsomely entertained at the houses 
of different chiefs, and in one particular instance, 
where he made a stay of a few days, the daughters 
of his Indian host amused him with their perform- 
ance on the piano ! ! 

Regarding the salubrity of Charleston, it may 
be remarked that excepting when the yellow fever 
makes its appearance, the town is fully as healthy 
as any in the United States. This disease does not 
commit such extensive ravages as it used to do for- 
merly, owing to the streets being kept remarkably 
clean ; and every regulation conducive to the health of 
2 c 3 



S06 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

the inhabitants is enforced by thepraper authorities. 
There are few dunghills in the city ; all offal, gar- 
bage, &c. must be laid in the streets early every 
morning, whence it is quickly conveyed away in 
carts ; and any fragments of animal matter, such as 
dead dogs or cats, are speedily devoured by what 
may be called the natural scavengers of Charleston, 
namely, a species of vulture, and turkey buzzards, 
a kind of animal very useful in warm climates* 
These birds roost in the woods near the city, but 
come in regularly before sunrise and remain till 
sunset. They are to be seen in great numbers 
about the market, and are quite tame ; a penalty of 
^5 being exacted from the person who intention- 
ally kills one of them. In spite of every precau- 
tion, the yellow fever makes its appearance here 
every few years ; but whether it is imported from 
other places or originates from local causes, has 
never been exactly determined. It was very fatal 
in 1817, and again in 1819, 1824, 1827, and 1828. 
It differs from the disease called yellow fever in New 
York, in so far, that whereas in the former place it 
breaks out in one particular quarter and gradually 
spreads around; here, it seems chiefly to affect 
strangers in different quarters of the city at the 
same time. The symptoms of disease and appear- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 30T 

ance after death of the patient, seem to be nearly 
the same in both places. 

When Charleston is free from malignant fever, 
the deaths annually amount to eight or nine hun- 
dred, which cannot be called a great proportion 
out of thirty-eight thousand, and a considerable 
number of these cases are consumptive patients 
from the north, who come to enjoy the mild winter 
of Charleston. In such years as the fever prevails, 
the deaths are swelled up to twelve hundred and 
upwards. 

The water with which Charleston is supplied, is 
by no means considered wholesome. On digging 
a few feet deep in any part of the city, water is 
found, but generally of a brackish quality, and ra- 
ther apt to bring on bowel complaints on those 
who use it. Rain water which is collected in cis- 
terns is much more agreeable to drink, but in sum- 
mer this is apt to produce insects, and it cannot al- 
ways be depended upon. 

The Carolinians have been accused of great in- 
temperance in drinking. This assertion has most 
probably arisen from the very general use of spirits 
to correct the bad qualities of the water. The 
inhabitants in general keep within the bounds of 
moderation; and although a great quantity of strong 
liquors are annually consumed in proportion to the 



308 SIX years' residence 

population, it has not such a visible effect as might 
be expected. Foreigners who have not been ac- 
customed to such continual soaking, are much more 
liable to suffer from its effects than those who are 
well seasoned. 

The Carolinians are not remarkable for being 
long lived; to quote an old proverb, they are " soon 
ripe, soon rotten." It may be observed that almost 
the whole of the American people have very bad 
teeth. Children of three or four years of age may 
be seen with the one half of their teeth quite cari- 
ous, and many persons at the age of thirty have 
only a few stumps left. It is a great drawback to 
the beauty of the American fair sex. Various cau- 
ses have been assigned as being conducive to this 
disease; amongst others, the excessive use of sweet 
meats and fruit among the female sex, and smok- 
ing and chewing tobacco to a great degree by the 
men. It rather seems to be an inherent quality 
in the climate, as people who abstain from all 
these practices are not exempt from it. In speak- 
ing of national defects or diseases, it ought to be 
mentioned that " king's evil" is an uncommon dis- 
ease in America ; and I have often heard it remark- 
ed by strangers that there are few of that class 
which we call "innocents" in Scotland, or born 
ideots, to be found in America. Several kinds of 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 309 

madness from other causes, especially that species 
termed Mania-a-potu, or madness from drinking, 
is increasing greatly. 

Negroes agree well with the climate of Carolina, 
and many of them arrive at a great age ; a woman 
died near Charleston a few years ago, who was a 
hundred and thirty-six years of age, and I have 
spoken to a Negro man upwards of a hundred and 
ten who seemed quite hearty, his hair and beard 
were white as snow. 

It would appear as if nature had adapted the 
Negroes for working under the rays of a powerful 
sun. I have repeatedly seen Negroes bare headed, 
lying asleep under the direct rays of that luminary 
at mid-day, whilst at the same time, an European, 
at least an Englishman, could not have stood in the 
same place for only a few minutes, without running 
the risk of a "coup de soleil" or being sun struck. 

Nature seems no less lavish in befriending Ne- 
groes with a skull of such strength and thickness, 
as renders that organ almost as insensible to the 
effects of a good hard blow thereon, as it seems 
impervious to the rays of the sun. I have seen 
two Negroes quarrel in the street, run back a few 
paces from each other, and then with great force 
and velocity bring their heads in contact, causing 
a noise somewhat akin to that produced by the sud- 



310 

den rapping together of two heavy wooden mallets. 
They have been seen frequently to send their cra- 
nium through a pretty strong wooden door with 
the velocity of a cannon ball ; and I cannot say 
whether my astonishment or laughter was most ex- 
cited on seeing a Negro wench take a piece of 
wood (which I am certain I could not have broken 
with a heavy stamp with my foot,) by the two ends, 
and bring it down upon the crown of her head 
with a sudden jerk which instantly snapt it in two. 
I have known gentlemen, who having in the bene- 
volence of their hearts applied their fist in a sum- 
mary way to the head of a young Negro by way of 
chastisement, found their knuckles to have received 
the worst part of the bargain, while the only ex- 
pression of uneasiness on the part of the Negro, 
was displayed by a slight scratch or two of the 
head. 

The greater part of the houses in Charleston 
being built of wood, fires are consequently very 
destructive in their effects. In the winter of 1825 
— 6, a great number of serious conflagrations took 
place; for some weeks there were two or three 
alarms of fire every night, and generally with suf- 
ficient cause. Sixty or seventy large houses were 
burnt to the ground in a few hours one night, and 
about three months afterwards as many more. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 311 

Such a conflagration presents a very sublime, al- 
though melancholy spectacle. The houses are 
generally covered with shingles, (thin slips of wood 
laid on in the same way as slates,) so that in a short 
time after a fire breaks out, the whole building ap- 
pears one complete body of flame both inside and 
outside. I have seen houses on the opposite side 
of a street eighty feet wide, take fire from the in- 
tense heat of the burning houses. When there is 
a high wind there is hardly a possibility of putting 
a stop to the mischief, until some large vacant 
space may chance to occur ; and water is very often 
scarce. A common method practised, is to blow up 
two or three houses so as to cause a space where 
the fire may be arrested, this is done by putting a 
barrel of gunpowder in the lower part of the house 
fixed upon, and setting fire to it by means of a 
train; accidents frequently occur from these ex- 
plosions, as the crowd have generally very little 
time to retire to a suitable distance. The most of 
these fires are occasioned by incendiaries, who ex- 
pect to make good plunder, during the confusion. 
The Negroes get a due share of credit in these 
transactions, .and not altogether without cause. 

In 1826, I witnessed the execution of a young 
fellow, who having received a whipping for some 
fault, was determined to square accounts with hi 



312 SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 

master who was a clergyman, and accordingly set 
fire to his stable one evening. This soon com- 
municated to several buildings, and caused consid- 
erable mischief. There was about as much cere- 
mony observed in executing this poor wretch, as 
would be done by a dozen of young blackguards 
in hanging a mangy dog. No minister attended 
the poor fellow to the fatal gibbet, and from the 
white people present, he received but little sympa- 
thy. He very calmly addressed the crowd, confess- 
ino-the justice of his sentence, &c. and looking up 
to heaven with much resignation in his counte- 
nance, expressed his confidence, that although he 
would suffer much bodily pain, yet in a few minutes 
his soul would be in glory. I heard a white man 
who was within a few yards of him, say loud enough 
for the poor lad to hear, " You'll be in hell, you 
black rascal you." 

About two weeks afterwards, another Negro who 
was convicted of a similar offence, was brought up 
to the same place for execution; but here a curious 
scene occurred. No one could be found to per- 
form the office of Jack Ketch. The civil officers, 
whose business it should have been, were out of the 
way, and the intendant of the city would not do it. 
He offered one hundred dollars to any one who 
would perform the duty ; still no one offered his 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 313 

services, and the man who had officiated on the 
former occasion, swore that he would not unless 
the money was first paid him, alleging that he had 
only received seven dollars for the former job in- 
stead of fifteen which had been promised him. In 
the meantime, the Negro sat down on the plank 
and seemed somewhat to enjoy the affair, and be- 
gan to joke with his acquaintances who were pre- 
sent, and to chew tobacco with great deliberation ; 
after remaining in this situation for a couple of 
hours, he was conducted back to jail and remains 
unhanged to this day. 

The execution of a white person is of rare oc- 
currence in Charleston ; several cases of this, how- 
ever, came under my observation, in the spring of 
1820 ; one of which excited great interest, being 
that of a man and his wife for murder and robbery 
to an unknown, but awful extent. These people 
kept a tavern about six miles from Charleston, and 
in concert with some of their associates, had for 
years carried on a complete trade of murdering and 
robbing altogether unheard of, except perhaps in 
Italy in former times. Numbers of people who 
had travelled on that road disappeared in a sudden 
and mysterious manner ; but " murder will out." 
A man from the country arrived at this inn one 
evening, and being rather late for town put up for 
2 D 



314 SIX years' residence 

the niglit; somehow or other, he kept awake until 
midnight, and hearing some discussion carried on 
by the people of the house, from whom he was se- 
parated only by a wooden partition, he listened 
more attentively, and to his horror and amazement 
heard them disputing as to the most convenient 
method in which they should despatch him. As 
may be well imagined, he kept very quiet, and has- 
tening on his clothes, contrived to slip out of the 
window, and without looking after his horse, made 
all possible haste for the city, where he instantly 
gave notice to the police large : a body of whom 
went out instantly, but the wretches having missed 
their victim and suspecting their danger, were on 
their guard, and having barricaded their doors 
and windows refused to surrender. At last a party 
of military had to be sent for, when a sort of bom- 
bardment commenced. The people in the house 
fired many shots, and yielded only after the house 
was set on fire. The most of the gang, it was sup- 
posed, had made their escape previousl}^ The 
ladies of Charleston exerted themselves in behalf 
of the woman, conceiving that the execution of a 
white female would be a disgrace on the fair sex 
of Carolina. The governor was beset on every 
hand with petitions, but wisely contrived to keep 
himself out of the way of the ladies until the exe- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 315 

cutioii was over. On digging around this den of 
iniquity, a great number of skeletons were found, 
no doubt the remains of unfortunate travellers. 
The scorched and blackened walls of the house 
still remain as a memento to the by-passer. 

The streets in Charleston are tolerably well hght- 
ed at night, and after nine o'clock in winter and 
ten in summer are remarkably quiet, every colour- 
ed person seen in the streets after that hour being 
taken to the watch house, and unless a fine is 
paid next day by their ow^ner, they receive a flog- 
ging. When the bell begins to ring in the even- 
ing, it is curious to observe such a scampering and 
running amongst the Negroes. Any person who 
may have rather too much copper in his com- 
plexion, runs a risk of being overhauled by the 
watchmen. I knew the case of a young man who 
was very dark in the countenance, and being out 
rather late at night, was taken up by the guard ; 
he was very indignant, and protested that he was a 

white man, and that his father was Mr B . The 

man who took him up was an old Scotsman, and 
said, " Weel, weel, we're no doubting wha your 
father is, but wha was your mither ?" At last the 
young man's friends came, and rescued him from 
the guard-house. The watchmen here were for- 
merly armed with a musket and bayonet; they 
2 D 2 



316 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

now carry only the latter at night. They receive 
sixteen dollars per month, but their duty is not se- 
vere, being only three hours on the street each 
night. The remainder of the night they are ac- 
commodated with a bed in the guard-house, so as 
to be at hand in case of necessity. 

The custom of serenading is kept up by the 
young men of Charleston with considerable spirit. 
The music, both vocal and instrumental, which is 
practised on such occasions, has a very agreeable 
effect in the dead of the night, especially when the 
airs are Scotish, which is frequently the case. The 
guitar is not an uncommon instrument used on 
these occasions. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 317 



CHAPTER XX. 

HURRICANES — MILITIA — REVOLUTIONARY ANECDOTES— CULTIVA- 
TION OF COTTON — DO. OF RICE — UPPER COUNTRY — TRADE OF 
CHARLESTON. 

Charleston has at different periods suffered 
greatly from the effects of hurricanes, which gene- 
rally happen iiji the fall of the year. The appear- 
ance of the atmosphere previous to the occurrence 
of these phenomena, is generally lowering and 
dull, and people are in some degree prepared for 
it. 

That which happened in September 1822, was 
very destructive in its effects ; it came on about 
ten o'clock in the evening, and continued till after 
two o'clock next morning. The whole atmosphere 
seemed to be one mass of blue flame attended with 
a strong sulphureous smell, the rattling of the thun- 
der seemed quite lost in the more awful and un- 
common noise produced by the wind, which in oc- 
casional gusts carried every thing before it with in- 
conceivable fury. It would then seem lulled for a 
2d 3 



318 SIX years' residence 

few minutes as if collecting fresh strength, and in 
a moment burst forth like a volcano. The crash- 
ing of houses and chimneys, and the rattling of 
tiles, bricks and timber, rushed down the streets 
with a noise hardly to be imagined, whilst in most 
houses both windows and shutters were carried in 
like sheets of paper, and the rain literally fell in 
torrents. Amid all this confusion, the shrieks and 
cries of the wounded and terrified inhabitants were 
most appalling. The effects produced by the vio- 
lence of the wind is scarcely credible to those who 
have not witnessed a similar scene ; large trees were 
broken off within a few feet of the ground as if cut 
through with a saw; many wooden houses were fairly 
overturned with their contents, and the cupola of a 
church, which was several tons in weight and most- 
ly made of copper, was carried several hundred 
feet over the top of high houses, and lodged in a 
street which it nearly blocked up. In the country, 
complete lanes were formed through the forests as 
if done by art. In one instance in the city, a fa- 
mily consisting of nine were all killed, excepting 
the father who had some of his limbs broken; 
and an infant child which was preserved alive in its 
cradle, over which a large beam had fallen in such 
a direction, as to prevent the ruins from crushing 
it. The whole number of people who perished in 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 319 

Charleston and the surrounding country was near- 
ly five hundred. Next morning several vessels 
were seen outside the bar, bottom up, and on cut- 
ting through the bottom of one of these, a Negro 
man was found alive, who asked if he was near Sa- 
vannah ! On Sullivan's island, the inhabitants during 
such hurricanes are placed in great jeopardy, the 
sea frequently making a complete breach over the 
whole island, excepting at the fort where people 
generally find refuge, but if too late to find their 
way thither, are left to the mercy of the tempest, 
which has sometimes carried houses and their in- 
mates fairly out to sea. In attempting to gain the 
fort, individuals have been blown into the water. 

In Charleston, every white man of proper age is 
required to turn out as a Militia man once a 
month generally. In case of non-compliance with 
this law, a heavy fine is levied for each offence. 
The Negroes require to be looked after very 
strictly ; and nothing but vigilance and caution 
will preserve the whites in safety from their machi- 
nations. 

There are some uniform companies here who 
make a tolerable appearance ; but the majority 
turn out in their every day apparel. Most of 
their evolutions would appear awkward enough to 
an experienced soldier, but they are all furnished 



320 SIX years' residence 

with arms. Some travellers have asserted, that 
the militia in America turn out generally with an 
umbrella or a stick in place of a musket. In most 
cases, such assertions have been made at the ex- 
pense of truth, and with the ungenerous intention, 
that every thing relating to America may appear 
in a ridiculous point of view. 

In the country towns of America, J have occa- 
sionally seen a militia man make use of a corn 
stalk in place of a musket ; but I have seen almost 
as simple an instrument used for the same purpose 
in some parts of Scotland. 

At a review near Charleston, I have observed 
a whole company of the military form themselves 
into a semi-circle to avoid standing over the shoes 
in water. Their commander either could not, or 
did not require them to form into regular line : 
there might be no particular occasion possibly for 
their standing in the wet, although it made some- 
what an awkward breach in the line. A detach- 
ment of country militia who were called to town 
during the Negro disturbance, made a somewhat 
grotesque appearance, being dressed with trowsers 
and frocks made of common drugget, (or blue and 
white as it is called) and large white Leghorn straw 
hats adorned with an immense plume of black os- 
trich feathers on their heads. These gentlemen 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 321 

were tall, sallow, thin-looking fellows ; but appa- 
rently as tough as neat's leather. It required no 
stretch of fancy to imagine you heard the jaws of 
their commander creak as he opened them to give 
his orders. They certainly did look very formida- 
ble to the poor Negroes while flourishing their 
sabres, like so many Quixotes. I understood that 
this was a complete aristocratical corps, being 
composed entirely of rich planters, who would ad- 
mit no merchants, traders, or foreigners amongst 
them. 

During the revolutionary war, the inhabitants 
of Carolina made as great and as disinterested sa- 
crifices in the cause of liberty, as any of their 
countrymen. Many sacrificed their whole fortune 
at the shrine of freedom, and were left to starve 
in their old age. The government of America 
has been wofully deficient in providing for the 
wants of her aged warriors ; and until some rea- 
sonable provision be made for all who have suf- 
fered in her cause, America should be less liberal 
in extolling her munificence and gratitude to one 
or two favoured individuals. 

The Americans, during the revolutionary war, 
were at times in such distressed circumstances, 
that it is asserted as a most incontrovertible fact, 
(several eye-witnesses being yet alive) that at the 



322 SIX years' residence 

battle of Eutavv-Springs, a detachment of Caroli- 
nians engaged that day were literally naked, and 
that they thrust small bunches of grass under their 
knapsacks to prevent their backs from being 
galled ! 

When a deputation of British officers went to 
General Marion's camp to negotiate about some 
matter, they found him and his staff seated round 
a fire, roasting sweet potatoes for their dinner. 
Being informed that this had been their only pro- 
vision for weeks together, the British expressed 
their astonishment, when the Americans assured 
them, that with such fare, and in the enjoyment of 
liberty, they were quite happy. Such anecdotes 
as these become very interesting, when heard 
from the mouths of such as shared in the dangers 
of the revolution. 

The chief productions of Carolina are cotton 
and rice. Indigo was formerly the chief article of 
cultivation, but is now much neglected. The qua- 
lity is very inferior to Spanish or Bengal Indigo. 
It sells at 87 cents (4s.) per pound, when the lat- 
ter brings two and a half dollars (lis. 3d.) per lb. 

There are two qualities of cotton cultivated 
here, the black seed, or Sea Island, and the green 
seed or upland : whence this last has been deno- 
minated " boweds" in Britain does not appear ; it 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 323 

is unknown by that name in Carolina. Tlie Sea 
Island is cultivated on low and rich lands near the 
sea, although it is likewise planted up the country, 
where it is called Santee, but is of inferior quality. 
Cotton is generally sown in March in rows about 
four feet apart, and the plants are thinned to about 
eighteen inches or two feet asunder. The culti- 
vation consists in hoeing and weeding it carefully. 
A field of cotton in blossom presents a very beau- 
tiful spectacle. When grown, the plants are 
about four feet high, and the pods appear of a 
quadrangular shape about the size of w^alnuts. 
These burst open when ripe, and the cotton ad- 
hering to the seeds is carefully picked out by 
hand. The Negroes are tasked to gather a cer- 
tain quantity of lbs. per day. 

As the cotton plant does not stand frost, how- 
ever slight, it must be renewed annually. After 
the cotton is collected, it is ginned or cleaned. 
The Sea Island, which adheres only very slightly 
to the seed, is cleaned by passing it with the hand 
between two rollers about an inch in diameter, 
which are wrought in the same manner as a turn- 
ing lathe. In this way the staple is not at all cut, 
which is the case with the upland or short staple. 
This last adheres very firmly to the seed, and re- 
quires a saw-gin to clean it. This is a machine 



324 SIX years' residence 

driven by the hand, or by horse power. It con- 
sists of forty or fifty small circular saws, (about 
six inches in diameter) turning round within so 
many grooves. The cotton is placed in a trough 
close to these; and the saws, in turning round, 
tear the cotton through the grooves, leaving the 
seed to fall out on the other side. Beneath the 
row of saws, a roller, furnished with a number of 
long brushes equal to the number of saws, turns 
round with a much greater velocity, throwing the 
clean cotton to a considerable distance backwards. 
Twenty lbs. of cotton from the plant usually pro- 
duces five of clean cotton, and six hundred lbs. of 
the latter is considered a good crop off one acre. 

When cotton is packed up in square bales, it is 
done in a press. In the round bags, it is packed 
in the following manner : A Negro going within 
the bag, (which is suspended from the ground) is 
supplied with cotton, which he puts in layers be- 
neath his feet, and this being occasionally slightly 
wetted, acquires the requisite firmness. There 
are many instances of deceit practised in the pack- 
ing of cotton; this is well known to the cotton 
spinners in Britain, large stones, pieces of metal, 
sand, or cotton seeds being found upon opening 
the bags. I once saw^ on the wharf at Charleston, 
a waggon load of cotton, which, from the uncom- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 325 

moil weight of each bale, excited the suspicion of 
the weigher, who caused them to be cut across, 
when the contents, excepting about two inches 
next the outside, were found to be completely 
soaked with water. This was a very bare-faced 
attempt at imposition ; but the owner of the cot- 
ton reaped the fruit of his ingenuity, by losing 
the whole ; as the moment that the operation of 
cutting the bags commenced, did he make his re- 
treat with his waggon as quickly as possible, for 
fear of worse consequences. At this time, cotton 
was worth a hundred dollars per bale, without any 
damping. It is very seldom that a merchant who 
has shipped cotton, can recover any thing here in 
case of false packing being discovered in Britain. 
When accused of such base practices, the people 
say, that they are merely retaliating upon the 
British for their gross fraud in their manner of 
putting up goods, especially those that come from 
Manchester. It would be well for both parties to 
conduct their commerce upon honourable princi- 
ples. Much bad blood is engendered on account 
of these tricks, and many unworthy surmises cast 
upon merchants of integrity and honour. 

Rice is another important article of cultivation 
in Carolina. The first which was planted here 
was a small quantity brought from Madagascar 
2 E 



32G SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 

in the year 1694. It forms now one of the great 
staple articles of the country, both for home con- 
sumpt and for exportation. 

From the nature of this article, the operations 
attendant upon the cultivation of it are imminent- 
ly dangerous to white people, and are even very 
unhealthy to Negroes. During a great part of the 
time from its being planted until cut down, the la- 
bourers are obliged to work literally ancle deep in 
mud, and exposed to the most pestilential vapours 
arisinor from the effects of a burning sun. The 
fields are flooded to a certain depth with water, 
which is let off* at intervals, for the purpose of 
hoeing. One great object in flooding is to keep 
grass and weeds down. The fields, as may be 
supposed, are very level, and some of them are of 
great extent. The rice is beaten out of the husks 
by large pestles, driven by water power or steam. 
The average produce of one acre is about 1200 
lbs. of clean rice. In 1818, when rice was very 
high in Charleston, (about SM. or 4d. per lb.) one 
planter received over one hundred thousand dol- 
lars for his crop. Rice is reckoned a very whole- 
some food, and is much used as a substitute for 
bread or potatoes. Excepting in town, the Ne- 
uroes are seldom allowed any. 

Some tobacco is raised in the upper part of Ca- 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 327 

rolina ; but the quality is inferior. I have seen a 
large cask of this article, with a sort of spindle 
through it, (something in the manner of a rolling 
stone,) drawn by a horse, and in this simple way 
are such casks transported for two hundred or 
three hundred miles. , 

Another article of commerce raised in conside- 
rable quantities here, is sesamun, or oily grain, 
commonly called ground nuts. This originally 
came from Africa, and is much used by Negroes. 
It is roasted like coffee, and after being freed from 
the shell, is made into cakes, &c. An immense 
quantity of this article is shipped to Boston and 
other places for the purpose of making chocolate. 

Indian corn is raised in every part of the coun- 
try ; but not in sufficient quantities for the con- 
sumption of the State. Flour is imported in great 
quantities from Philadelphia and other places. 

In the upper part of Carolina, which is very 
beautiful, wheat, rye, oats, flax, &c. are raised, 
and the principal labours of the field are performed 
by white people. This upper country is, in many 
respects, a much more desirable residence than 
Canada, or (,he Northern States of America. It is 
as healthy upon an average as these countries, and 
enjoys a delightful climate, the summer not being 
so oppressively hot as it is in the north during the 
2 E 2 



328 SIX years' residence 

time it lasts ; and the winter is very mild, so much 
so, that cattle are never at a loss for fodder. 
Markets are also generally within a reasonable 
distance ; and a good price is obtained at all times 
for the productions of the farm. But with all 
these advantages, the fact is, that the nature and 
state of the country is altogether unknown to 
the majority of people at all desirous to emi- 
grate. People who have heard any thing of 
Charleston or the low country, imagine that the 
whole State is overrun with swamps and slaves ; 
when the real state of the matter is, that slaves 
are little known in the upper part of the State, and 
the face of the country is beautifully interspersed 
with hill and dale. Peaches, figs, &c. are raised 
in abundance ; and a little attention to the cultiva- 
tion of the vine would amply reward the planter 
with wine of an excellent quality. Grapes grow 
wild in abundance along the fences and in the 
woods. Another thing is, that few ships, compa- 
ratively speaking, leave Britain for Carolina ; and 
the passage money is usually high, which, in some 
measure, checks emigration thither. As the coun- 
try becomes better known, emigrants will, no 
doubt, prefer a rich country, with an almost per- 
petual spring, to a country covered with ice and 
snow during five or six months of the year, and 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 329 

where cattle must be fed during all that time. A 
great part of Upper Carolina is yet unsettled, and 
land can always be obtained at a low rate. 

There are many people here, known by the 
name of " Squatters," who have, without cere- 
mony, settled upon unoccupied lands, and in some 
cases, having remained in undisturbed possession 
of such for a number of years, acquire a kind of 
right to the land thus usurped. 

I have seen plenty of land upon which cattle 
were grazing, and covered with good timber, with- 
in thirty miles of Charleston, which was sold at 
auction for two dollars (9s.) per acre. 

The trade of Charleston consists chiefly in the 
export of cotton and rice to Europe and the 
Northern States of America. The quantity of 
cotton annually exported, amounts to about 
200,000 bales, and about 100,000 barrels of rice, 
each containing 700 lbs. A large quantity of tar, 
turpentine, lumber, &c. is also exported. 

The import of dry goods is comparatively 
trifling, the amount of customs being only about 
one-twentieth of what is levied at New York. It 
may be said, that in Charleston there are no ma- 
nufactures ; an attempt has been made once or 
twice to introduce the manufacture of cotton goods, 
but without success, the want of weavers forming 
2 E 3 



330 SIX years' residence 

an insurmountable obstacle, and to instruct Ne- 
groes in this art would require great skill and ca- 
pital, and a vast deal of patience. 

An iron foundery does a considerable deal of 
business in castings of mill-work, &c. The price 
charged for such coarse work is eight cents per lb. 
weight, equal to 40s. 4d. sterling per cwt. 

Mechanics in Charleston, such as carpenters, 
tailors, &c. receive considerably better wages 
than in the north. Many workmen come down 
from New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, during 
the cool season, finding it advantageous to them- 
selves, even after deducting the expense of their 
passage money backwards and forwards. In 
Charleston, a good blacksmith will earn two dol- 
lars per day, and a good tailor as much. Such 
workmen will pay three to four dollars a week for 
comfortable board and lodging. The price of 
clothing may be mentioned here, viz. : a good 
black coat costs from twenty -five to thirty dollars 
{£5 12s. 6d. to £6 15s.) ; trowsers from ten to 
twelve (45s. to 54s.) ; black cloth vest from four to 
six dollars (18s. to 2Ts.) These prices I paid in 
1826, at what is called a cash store. 

I may observe, that the business of a barber is 
very profitable in the large towns of America, in 
New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, &c. 6^ 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 831 

cents (3^d.) is charged for shaving, and 12J to 
25 cents (6|d. to IS^d.) for cutting hair. An op- 
position shop or two commenced in Philadelphia 
in 1825, where only three cents was the charge for 
shaving : these did a great deal of business. It 
may be remarked, that barbers in America gene- 
rally have their shops fitted out with much neat- 
ness, and very convenient in all respects for their 
customers. 

An old Scotsman, who has resided upwards of 
half a century in Charleston, informed me in 
1826, that a mender of old china, a sharpener of 
surgeons' instruments, and a maker of wooden 
selves or riddles, would find very profitable em- 
ployment in that city : indeed, three such artizans 
would enjoy a complete monopoly of their respec- 
tive branches of trade, and more than enough of 
employment. 

The business of a watchmaker is by no means 
such a profitable employment in America as mio-ht 
be supposed. An immense quantity of watches 
are yearly imported from France and England, 
and many of them are exposed to sale by auction 
at whatever they may bring. There are few eight 
day clocks to be seen in the houses of the Ameri- 
cans ; this is another drawback to the employment 
of a watchmaker. In New York or Philadelphia, 



332 SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

the price charged for repairing or setting a watch 
to rights, is about double the price of what is 
charged for the same operation in Glasgow ; but 
in Charleston, the very lowest price which I have 
paid for the most trifling repair to a common sil- 
ver watch was one dollar ; and for putting my 
watch to rights which had fallen on the cabin floor 
while at sea, I paid three dollars, on account of 
the small chain in the inside having been broken. 

In talking of watchmending, I am naturally led 
to remember a circumstance which may be worth 
recording here. The tube of a thermometer, which 
I had brought from Glasgow with me, having been 
accidentally broken, I left the instrument at a ma- 
thematician's shop in Chesnut Street, Philadel- 
phia, for the purpose of having it replaced. On 
calling sometime afterwards at the shop, a young 
man handed me the thermometer, and upon my 
observing that he had obliterated the original scale, 
and the maker's name upon the plate, he replied, 
" Oh yes ; we have made it now as it should be." 
"What! was it incorrect formerly ?" I retorted, 
" I am certain, at all events, that the freezing and 
boiling points were correct, for I have repeatedly 
proved that myself." " Yes, yes," returned he, 
" that may be ; these English thermometers are 
often correct enough at these points, whilst the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 333 

rest of the scale is graduated at random." With 
a smile of doubt, I could not help replying, " And 
so, young man, you think that our European ma- 
thematicians should come to Philadelphia to be in- 
structed in philosophy ?" " Why, Sir, I guess 
we can fix these matters pretty correctly," was his 
reply. I paid three dollars for the new tube to 
this instrument ; the original price of which alto- 
gether was lis. in Mr Galletti's shop in Glasgow, 



334 SIX years' residence 



CHAPTER XXL 



ACCOUNT OF FLORIDA. 



Before concluding these remarks on the United 
States, it may not be altogether uninteresting to 
give a short description of Florida, which was ced- 
ed by Spain to the United States in 1819. It may 
be mentioned in the first place, that such a country 
was most unlikely to thrive in the hands of Spain ; 
and in the next place, it seems naturally to belong 
to the United States, and will, through time, beyond 
all doubt, form one of their richest and most im- 
portant territories. East and West Florida com- 
prehend about 50,000 square miles, situated be- 
tween north latitude 25 and 31. The climate is 
a happy medium betwixt the sudden changes and 
intense cold of the Northern States, and the ex- 
cessive heat of the West Indies. From the end 
of September until the end of June, the climate is 
truly delightful. During the other three months 
it is very hot, but tempered by regular breezes, 
being situated mostly between the Atlantic on the 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 335 

east, and the Gulf of Mexico on the west. Frost 
is ahiiost unknown in the northern part, and not at 
all in the southern, so that Florida is adapted for 
most of the tropical fruits. A considerable part 
of the country is swamp ; indeed, the whole of it 
lies low ; but, from the most impartial accounts of 
it, it cannot be called unhealthy. St Augustine, 
for instance, is resorted to by the inhabitants of 
Havannah who have lost their health ; and although 
the population is very thin indeed, the deaths are 
but few. This country is, as yet, almost unknown 
to emigrants ; but the inducements to settle are 
many. The country is, in many places, overspread 
with the wild orange ; and both the soil and cli- 
mate is adapted for vines, cocoa, coffee, sugar, 
cotton, rice, dates, almonds, olives, &c. 

Florida is literally a paradise in comparison to 
some parts of America ; and as it becomes better 
known, will, no doubt, receive its own share of 
settlers ; but as yet, there exists a strong preju- 
dice against the Southern States in general, and 
there are but very few vessels which trade to that 
quarter. A few extracts from a letter written by a 
Spanish gentleman long resident in Florida to his 
friend in Charleston, may give some idea of the 
country. He says — " I will venture to assert, that 
from an extraordinary combination of local cir- 



336 SIX YEARvS' RESIDENCE 

cumstances, perhaps no part of the world of equal 
size offers a larger portion of good to its evils. 
East Florida has natural advantages sufficient to 
make it one of the most important divisions of 
North America ; and indeed, more so than some 
that are already opulent. Its level surface and 
mild climate, is not exceeded in point of salubrity, 
by any part of either continent; in America, equal- 
led by very few, and is perhaps the most free from 
those convulsions of nature, that render property, 
health, and even life, precarious. Its extensive 
lands, fertile in the productions of many valuable 
articles of agriculture, rich in spontaneous high 
growth and pasturage, and abounding in native 
quadrupeds, lie waste to the amount of fifteen mil- 
lions of acres. Its water courses are numerous, 
navigable, and abundantly supplied with fish. Its 
stores of lumber are immense, and the qualities of 
some of them have been preferred in all countries 
where they have been used, to those of the same 
denomination found elsewhere, particularly its 
pine, cedar, cypress, and live oak. I have seen 
Florida pine bought in Savannah for ship- build- 
ing, fifty per cent, higher in price than Georgia 
pine ; and it is a well known fact, that Florida 
pine has had a preference in the royal dock yards 
of England, over all other pines that have been 
brought there. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 337 

" The exports of Florida, at present amounting 
almost to nothing, would be very great if it had 
but a sufficient population. For the last twenty 
years, there has not been exported one barrel of 
turpentine, the produce of the province; whereas, 
when it was but an infant colony of Great Britain, 
one commercial house shipped from the river St 
John twenty thousand barrels. In Savannah river 
(which is no way equal to our St John's) are 
loaded hundreds of vessels annually, while the 
whole of Florida does not load ten in a year. 
Notwithstanding, Florida has advantages arising 
from its local situation, that are at least equal to 
the difference in territorial size, when compared 
with Georgia, such as extensive fishing grounds, 
large fields for wrecking, the peculiar situation of 
its coasts and quays, a more southern climate, more 
congenial to the production of many of the most 
valuable articles of commerce that are raised in 
Georgia, and productive of many others in which 
that country does not participate, or but in a very 
limited degree. Its exports might consist of many 
articles, viz. : the four denominations of lumber 
already mentioned, and a variety of others, cotton, 
indigo, hemp, tobacco, pot and pearl ashes, myrtle 
and bees wax, tar, turpentine, rosin, pitch, Indian 

corn, rice, rye, barley, and oats, several kinds of 
2f 



338 . SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 

wine and brandy, whisky, malt liquors, pease, 
beans of many kinds,^ a long list of esculent and 
medical roots, culinary, medical, and manufactur- 
ing oils, beef, butter, pork, cheese, lard, poultry, 
&c. &c. Sugar and flour have not been fairly 
tried on a large scale ; but we know, that in Geor- 
gia, lying more to the north, the former has been 
made in good perfection, and the latter in Louisi- 
ana, directly west. There is no reason to doubt 
their lucrative production in Florida ; and its 
southern parts will suit the production of coffee. 
^ " These advantages lie dormant only from the 
want of hands to put them in motion; and al- 
though very great encouragement has long been 
held out to settlers from all countries, excepting 
only American citizens, yet we get none but a few 
of these, who now and then slip in, and meet with 
toleration. 

«' The people of South America, our country- 
men, are well known to possess already too much 
territory, and too much indolence, to come this 
way ; and the great number of people who are 
constantly emigrating from all parts of Europe to 
the United States and the British provinces, know 
nothing of Florida, nor have we vessels in that 
commerce to bring them out; hence the cause why 
they emigrate to places already crowded, and not 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 339 

having the means of estabhshing themselves on 
their own footing, as must be the case with a very- 
large proportion of them, they go to service to in- 
crease the opulence of others ; whereas they 
would, with the same amount of labour and in- 
dustry here, become opulent themselves, and im- 
prove a much finer country. 

" The present population of this province does 
not exceed five thousand souls, including slaves, 
and scarcely one half of these are ever employed 
in country work ; and those who are, from the 
dislike of solitude inherent in human nature, all 
crowd down as near as possible to the sea coast, 
leaving the better lands behind them. For as na- 
ture has receded from the conveniences of the sea, 
she has generally compensated in the quality of the 
soil. 

" A proof of the mediocrity, and of course, sa- 
lubrity and comfort of this climate, is conspicuous 
in the perpetual verdure which universally pre- 
vails ; which neither the summer's heat, nor win- 
ter's cold is intense enough to destroy : placed be- 
tween a gulf on each side, the cold of winter is 
mollified, and the summer's heat is alleviated by 
the regular trade winds. 

" There are intervals in the extremity of our 
seasons, when the heat and cold are severely felt ; 
2 F 3 



340 SIX years' residence 

but their duration is very short, the heat being 
rarely found oppressive more than an hour or two 
at a time, or the cold for more than a day or two. 
The nights throughout summer are generally cool. 
These sudden changes are not productive of such 
serious consequences as result from them in other 
countries. Colds are common with us ; but are 
very rarely known to terminate in consumption ; 
for as we do not require such warm shelter and 
apparel as are indispensable in less favoured cli- 
mates, we are not so highly wrought as to receive 
deep impressions from the transitions ; and when 
we have received any at all, the grateful elasticity 
and purity of our air soon disperses the evil. We 
are not exempt from fevers; but owing to our 
happy mediocrity of climate, and purity of atmo- 
sphere, they do not occur so often, and then they 
are divested of that virulence which characterises 
some of them to the north and west of us ; and 
those of the more fatal kinds we have never suffer- 
ed by : they have been several times imported, but 
have died in the subjects who brought them : in 
short, we have had but little call for the doctor, 
apothecary, or grave-digger. 

" Along the banks of the St Mary's river, the 
inhabitants, who are by no means remarkable for 
industry, generally cultivate the pine barren lands 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 341 

(pine-bearing is certainly the true name) in prefer- 
ence, and these produce beautiful crops of provi- 
sions. I have seen fine crops of black seed (sea 
island) cotton raised on these lands, 35 miles di- 
rect from the sea coast. The inhabitants say these 
lands must be cow-penned, and then they produce 
three or four good crops in succession. On in- 
quiring into this part of their agricultural process, 
I find it amounts to little more than driving a gang 
of cattle a few times across them." 

This account of Florida, although in several 
items evidently overcharged, is correct upon the 
most essential points ; and there is no doubt, but 
that in the course of time, the advantages of such 
a country will be duly appreciated. The price of 
United States land is the same in every part of the 
Union ; namely — two dollars per acre, payable by 
five annual instalments ; but in Florida, where 
large tracts have been bought up by speculators, 
for literally almost nothing, excellent lands even 
at no great distance from St Augustine, may be 
purchased extremely cheap, and upon very advan- 
tageous terms. I knew a gentleman in Charles- 
ton who had' purchased more than 100,000 acres 
on speculation : he went afterwards to inspect it, 
and I had no reason to doubt his candour, when 
he informed me, that for ten or twelve miles he 
2 F 2 



34.2 SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 

had rode through groves of the wild orange, and 
great part of the land appeared superior to the 
average of s^ood land in Carolina. 

There is now a fair prospect that this State will 
speedily be settled by enterprising farmers from 
the older States of the Union. A considerable 
number of planters have already removed their 
families and stock thither, and the influence of 
Spanish manners and customs, hostile alike to li- 
berality and improvement of every kind, will soon 
give way to the more enlightened and rational po- 
licy of the American government. In 1826, a 
Presbyterian church was erected in the town of 
St Augustine. 



Postscript. — Glasgow, Mrt?/,1830. — The great- 
er part of the foregoing remarks being now printed, 
I have only to add, that my most fervent wishes 
will be fully gratified, should a few of my readers 
have received any additional information regard- 
ing America, to what they previously possessed. 
Should my feeble pen have at all served to eluci- 
date any question of importance to such of my 
countrymen as may hereafter intend going west- 
wards, it will be a lasting consolation to me, that 
my labour to delineate America and its inhabitants 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 343 

to the best of my ability, has not been altogether 
in vain. 

The great emigration which has, and now is 
taking place to America, will serve to corroborate 
a few of my remarks in regard to farmers and me- 
chanics ; and I have no doubt, but that as the real 
state of America becomes better known, and mu- 
tual prejudice and illiberality disappear, that emi- 
gration to that country will be looked upon, not 
as expatriation, and a surrendering of all the com- 
forts of civilized life, but rather as a removal from 
an overcrowded portion of a free, independent, 
and civilized country, to another part of the same, 
which is not less rich, but more roomy. 

To those who are not immediately interested in 
America, or its population, I can only return them 
my most sincere thanks for having borne me com- 
pany thus far. 



su 



SIX years' residence 



AREA OF THE UNITED STATES IN SQUARE MILES, WITH THEIR, 
CAPITAL CITIES. 



STATES, 

Maine, 

New Hampshire, 

Vermont, ^ 

Massachusetts, — 
Rhode Island, .^v 
Connecticut, .^ 

New York, 

New Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 

Delaware, ,^^.,^.^ 

Maryland, 

Virginia, 
North Carolina, 
South Carolina, 
Georgia, ,«„<v^-^ 
Alabama, ,.^^^ 
Mississippi, ,v-«^ 

Louisiana, ^ 

Tennessee, „^.^ 
Kentucky, <,^^ 
Ohio, 



Indiana 
Illinois, 
Missouri, 
Michigan, „ 
North West, 

Arkansa, 

Missouri 
Florida, 
Columbia District. 



SQR. MILES, 

.32,628 

. 9,491 

.10,212 

. 7,500 

. 1,340 

. 4,764 

,46,085 

. 8,320 

.44,000 

. 2,120 

.13,950 

.64,000 

.^48,000 

^28,000 

-62,000 

-46,000 

-45,760 

^48,220 

-40,000 

~42,000 

.39,128 

.37,000 

.52,000 

63,000 

— 54,000 



CHIEF CITIES. 

Concord 

Portland 

Montpeliei" 

Boston 

Providence and New- Port 

Hartford and New- Haven 

Albany 

Trenton 

Harrisburgh 
Dover 

Annapolis 

Richmond 

Raleigh 

Columbia 
Milledgeville 

Cahawba 

Columbia 
New Orleans 
Murfreesborough 
Frankfort 
Columbus 
Indianopolis 
Vandalia 
Jefferson City 



121,000 Arkopolis 

,45,000 St Augustine 
100 Washinarton 



1,014,618 
Unsurveyed, about 1,500,000 



2,514,618 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 



345 





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a 2 




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346 



SIX YEARS* RESIDENCE 









»# OO O O ?> !> 


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■^ O) O O GO CO 


ii 










H 


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'*'"o"o"^''-rc?j" 


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^ 






en 




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CO 












CO 




III! 






• 


"* 7^ iO GO ^ O 


rf 










5; 


C>J 


|i88^^^^§? • 


o" 




1 1 I 








2 


2 




•3 . . , . 










cT 


o 




> 






















»r5 


'fO 




i2 ' ' • ' 




1 


. 




o 


o 












3- 


1 




,S 1 II 1 




e 






i> 


i> 




« ■ , • . 'i".!" 
















1 




3- 


§^ 


1 




• -C3 5-1 




< 

W 


Cd 


" 


CO 

'O 


lO 




Tennesse 
Kentucky 
Indiana, 
Illinois, 
Missouri, 
Arkansa ' 
Florida di 
Columbia 




i 


8- 


g i 

o" 0^ 




1 






" 


CO" 


§^ 


o 

s 


3,778 
2,500 
00,000 
50,000 
35,000 
H8,000 
89,000 
93,300 
52,500 
10,500 


1 


3 


W 












1 1 1 




C4H 


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O 




T3 


O 




^ 1 I I 






> 1 1 1 r 


i^ 


i 
2 




1 . . , 

^ . ' . ' . ' 

-*= 1 1 

3 .2 
o • • 'IS 


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1 


2 CO 


' ' ' ' ' 'P 

' ' ' ' ' i 

,1111^ 

1 


•;3 

3 






W . . "^ 


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i 'z 


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1 1 1 O 




^ 


1 1 II 


G. 






... 1 







tA 1 o 'o 








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q; _ - H ti G- -. 








Territ 
Ditto, 
Distri 
North 


J 


mber of sla 
New Jers 
Delaware, 
Maryland. 
Virginia, 
North Ca 
South Ca 
Georgia, 
Alabama, 
Mississip 
Louisiana 


3 






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:r; 1= :j-i t- o 0) 


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5^^<:uH 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 347 

POPULATION OF THE rOLLOWING CITIES AT DIFFERENT PERIODS : 







1790. 


1800. 


1810. 


1820. 


New York, 


- - t 


J3,13I 


30,489 


96,373 


123,706 


PhHadelphia, 


- L 


t2,520 


34,035 


9.3,640 


108,116 


Baltimore, 




13,503 


26,514 


46,5.35 


62,738 


Boston, 




18,747 


24,937 


33,250 


45,298 


Charleston, S. 


Carolina, ] 


16,359 


23,560 


31,500 


37,500 


New Orleans, 


_ 




, 


. 


27,176 


Pro^-idence, R. 


l" 


'6,380 


7,614 


10,071 


11,767 


Richmond, Va 


_ 


6,985 


. 


9,745 


12,046 


Portsmouth, N 


Ham p. 


4,720 


5,339 


6,934 


7,327 


Portland, Maine, - I 


2,240 


3,704 


7,169 


8,581 


Washington, 


_ 






8,208 


13,247 


Salem, 


_ 






. 




. 


12,731 


Albany, 


- 






. 








12,630 


* Cincinnati, 


_ 














9,644 


Norfolk, 


_ 














8,478 


Alexandria, 


. 














8,218 


Savannah, 


_ 














7,523 


Georgetown, S. 


Carolina, 














7,360 


New- Haven, 


_ 














7,147 


New- Port, 


_ 














7,319 


Pittsburgh, - 


_ 














7,248 


Newbury Port, 


_ 














6,852 


Petersburgh, 


_ 














6,690 


Lancaster, 


_ 














6,663 


Newark, 


_ 














6,507 


Lexington, 


_ 














5,267 


Troy, 


_ 














5,264 


Hudson, 


_ 














4,860 


Hartford, 


_ 














4,726 


St Louis, 


- 












4,598 





* This city, in 1829, contained upwards of 24,000 inhabitants. 



348 



SIX years' residence 



TABLE EXHIBITING THE VALUE OF CENTS IN SHILLINGS, PENCE, 
AND IOOtHS of a penny STERLING. 



Cents. 

1 


Shill. 


Pence. 


lOOths 
of a 
Penny. 

54 


Cents. 

35 


Shill. 


Pence. 

6 


lOOths 

of a 
Penny 

90 


Cents. 


Shill. 


Pence. 


lOOths 
of a 
Penny 


69 


3 


1 


26 


2 




"i 


08 


36 




7 


44 


70 


3 


1 


80 


3 




1 


62 


37 




7 


98 


71 


3 


2 


34 


4 


... 


2 


16 


38 




8 


52 


72 


3 


2 


88 


5 


... 


2 


70 


39 




9 


06 


73 


3 


3 


42 


6 




3 


24 


40 




9 


60 


74 


3 


3 


96 


7 




3 


78 


41 




10 


14 


75 


3 


4 


50 


8 




4 


32 


42 




10 


68 


76 


3 


5 


04 


9 




4 


86 


43 




11 


22 


77 


3 


5 


58 


10 




5 


40 


44 




11 


76 


78 


3 


6 


12 


11 




5 


94 


45 


2 


... 


30 


79 


3 


6 


66 


12 




6 


48 


46 


2 


... 


84 


80 


3 


7 


20 


13 




7 


02 


47 


2 


1 


38 


81 


3 


7 


74 


H 




7 


56 


48 


2 


1 


92 


82 


3 


8 


28 


15 




8 


10 


49 


2 


2 


46 


83 


3 


8 


82 


16 




8 


64 


50 


2 


3 


... 


84 


3 


9 


36 


17 




9 


18 


51 


2 


3 


54 


85 


3 


9 


90 


18 




9 


72 


52 


2 


4 


08 


86 


3 


10 


44 


19 




10 


26 


53 


2 


4 


62 


87 


3 


10 


98 


20 




10 


80 


54 


2 


5 


16 


88 


3 


11 


52 


21 




11 


34 


55 


2 


5 


70 


89 


4 


... 


06 


22 




11 


88 


5Q 


2 


6 


24 


90 


4 




60 


23 




... 


42 


51 


2 


6 


78 


91 


4 


"l* 


14 


24 




... 


96 


58 


2 


7 


32 


92 


4 


1 


68 


25 




1 


50 


59 


2 


7 


86 


93 


4 


2 


22 


26 




2 


04 


60 


2 


8 


40 


94 


4 


2 


76 


27 




2 


58 


61 


2 


8 


94 


95 


4 


3 


30 


28 




3 


12 


62 


2 


9 


48 


96 


4 


3 


84 


29 




3 


66 


63 


2 


10 


02 


97 


4 


4 


38 


30 




4 


20 


64 


2 


10 


5Q 


98 


4 


4 


92 


31 




4 


74 


65 


2 


11 


10 


99 


4 


5 


46 


32 




5 


28 


66 


2 


11 


64 


100 


4 


6 


00 


33 




5 


82 


67 


3 




18 










34 




6 


36 


68 


3 


... 


72 











IN THE UNITED STATES. 349 

TABLE CONVERTING DOLLARS ESTTO BRITISH CURRENCY. 



Dollrs. 


£ s. 


d. 


Dollrs. 


£ i. d. 


Dollars. 


£ i. d. 


J 


4 


6 


44 


9 18 


87 


19 11 6 


2 


9 





45 


10 2 6 


88 


19 16 


3 


13 


6 


46 


10 7 


89 


20 6 


4 


18 





47 


10 11 6 


90 


20 5 


5 


1 2 


6 


48 


10 16 


91 


20 9 6 


6 


1 7 





49 


11 6 


92 


20 14 


7 


1 11 


6 


50 


11 5 


93 


20 18 6 


8 


1 16 





51 


11 9 6 


94 


21 3 


9 


2 


6 


52 


11 14 


95 


21 7 6 


10 


2 5 





53 


11 18 6 


96 


21 12 


11 


2 9 


6 


54 


12 3 


97 


21 16 6 


12 


2 14 





55 


12 7 6 


98 


22 1 


13 


2 18 


6 


56 


12 12 


99 


22 5 6 


H 


3 3 





51 


12 16 6 


100 


22 10 


1.5 


3 7 


6 


58 


13 1 


200 


45 


16 


3 12 





59 


13 5 6 


300 


67 10 


17 


3 16 


6 


60 


13 10 


400 


90 


18 


4 1 





61 


13 14 6 


500 


112 10 


19 


4 5 


6 


62 


13 19 


600 


135 


20 


4 10 





63 


14 3 6 


700 


157 10 


21 


4 14 


6 


64 


14 8 


800 


180 


22 


4 19 





65 


14 12 6 


900 


202 10 


23 


5 3 


6 


66 


14 17 


1,000 


225 


24< 


5 8 





67 


15 1 6 


2,000 


450 


25 


5 12 


6 


68 


15 6 


3,000 


675 


26 


5 17 





69 


15 10 6 


4,000 


900 


27 


6 1 


6 


70 


15 15 


5,000 


1,125 


28 


6 6 





71 


15 19 6 


/),000 


1,350 


29 


6 10 


6 


72 


16 4 


'/Vooo 


1,575 


30 


6 15 





73 


16 8 6 


8,000 


1,800 


31 


6 19 


6 


74 


16 13 


9,000 


2,025 


32 


7 4 





75 


16 17 6 


10,000 


2,250 


33 


7 8 


6 


76 


17 2 


20,000 


4,500 


34 


7 13 





77 


17 6 6 


30,000 


6,750 


35 


7 17 


6 


78 


17 11 


40,000 


9,000 


36 


8 2 





79 


17 15 6 


50,000 


11,250 


37 


8 6 


6 


80 


18 


60,000 


13,500 


38 


8 11 





81 


18 4 6 


70,000 


15,750 


39 


8 15 


6 


82 


18 9 


80,000 


18,000 


40 


9 





83 


18 13 6 


90,000 


20,500 


41 


9 4 


6 


84 


18 18 


100,000 


22,500 


42 


9 9 


^ 1 


85 


19 2 6 


1,000,000 


225,000 


43 


9 13 


6 1 


86 


19 7 







2 G 



350 



SIX YEARS RESIDENCE 



TABLE CONVERTING STERLING MONEY INTO AMERICAN DOLLARS, 
CENTS, &C. 



Sterling. 




lOOtbs 




sterling. 




tooths 










lOOths 




Cents. 


of a 






Cents. 


of a 




Shillings. 


Dollrs. 


Cents. 


Ota 


s. d. 




Cent. 




s. d. 




Cent. 










Cent. 

1 


1 


1 


•85 


2 4 


51 


85 


1 




22 


22 


2 


3 


70 




2 5 


53 


70 




2 




44 


44 


3 


5 


55 




2 6 


55 


5Q 




3 


... 


66 


66 


4 


7 


40 




2 7 


51 


41 




4 




88 


88 


5 


9 


26 




2 8 


59 


26 




5 


"]' 


11 


11 


6 


11 


11 




2 9 


61 


11 




6 


1 


33 


33 


7 


12 


96 




2 10 


62 


96 




7 


1 


55 


55 


8 


14 


81 




2 11 


64 


81 




8 


1 


11 


78 


9 


16 


m 




3 


66 


66 




9 


2 


00 


00 


10 


18 


51 




3 1 


68 


51 




10 


2 


22 


22 


11 


20 


37 




3 2 


70 


36 




11 


2 


44 


44 


1 


22 


22 




3 3 


72 


21 




12 


2 


66 


66 


1 1 


24 


07 




3 4 


74 


06 




13 


2 


83 


88 


1 2 


25 


92 




3 5 


75 


91 




14 


3 


11 


11 


1 3 


27 


78 




3 6 


77 


76 




15 


3 


33 


33 


1 4 


29 


63 




3 7 


79 


61 




16 


3 


55 


55 


1 5 


31 


48 




3 8 


81 


46 




17 


3 


77 


78 


1 6 


33 


33 




3 9 


83 


32 




18 


4 


... 




1 7 


35 


18 




3 10 


85 


18 




19 


4 


22 


22 


1 8 


37 


03 




3 11 


87 


03 




20 


4 


44 


44 


1 9 


38 


88 




4 


88 


88 












1 10 


40 


73 




4 1 


90 


73 












1 11 


42 


59 




4 2 


92 


58 












2 


44 


44 




4 3 


94 


44 












2 1 


46 


29 




4 4 


96 


30 












2 2 


48 


15 




4 5 


98 


15 












2 3 


50 


00 




4 6 


100 


00 













IN THE UNITED STATES. 



351 



TABLE CONVERTING STERLING MONEY INTO AMERICAN DOLLARS, 

CENTS, &c. — Continued. 



Stg. 






lOOths 


stg. 






lOOths 


Sterlii-g. 






lOOths 




DoUrs. 


Cents. 


of a 




Dollrs. 


Cents. 


of a 




Dollars. 


Jents. 


of a 


1 


4 


44 


Cent. 

44 


£ 

44 


195 


55 


Cent. 

55 


£ 






Cent. 


87 


386 


66 


66 


2 


8 


88 


88 


45 


200 


, 


... 


88 


391 


11 


11 


3 


13 


^3 


33 


46 


204 


44 


44 


89 


395 


55 


56 


4 


17 


77 


77 


47 


208 


88 


88 


90 


400 


... 




5 


22 


22 


22 


48 


213 


33 


33 


91 


404 


44 


44 


6 


26 


66 


66 


49 


217 


77 


77 


92 


408 


88 


88 


7 


31 


11 


11 


50 


222 


22 


22 


93 


413 


33 


33 


8 


35 


55 


55 


51 


226 


66 


66 


94 


417 


77 


77 


9 


40 


. 


... 


52 


231 


11 


11 


95 


422 


22 


22 


10 


44 


44 


44 


53 


235 


55 


56 


96 


426 


66 


66 


11 


48 


88 


88 


54 


240 


... 


... 


97 


4:^1 


11 


11 


12 


53 


33 


33 


55 


244 


44 


44 


98 


435 


55 


5Q 


13 


57 


77 


77 


56 


248 


88 


88 


99 


440 


... 




U 


62 


22 


22 


57 


253 


33 


33 


100 


444 


44 


44 


15 


66 


66 


66 


58 


257 


77 


77 


200 


888 


88 


88 


16 


71 


11 


11 


59 


262 


22 


22 


300 


1,.333 


33 


33 


17 


75 


55 


56 


m 


265 


66 


m 


400 


1,777 


77 


77 


18 


SO 


... 




61 


271 


11 


11 


500 


2,222 


22 


22 


19 


84 


i'i 


44 


62 


275 


55 


56 


600 


2,666 


66 


66 


20 


88 


88 


88 


63 


280 




... 


700 


3,111 


11 


11 


21 


93 


S3 


33 


64 


284 


44 


44 


800 


3,555 


55 


5Q 


22 


97 


77 


77 


Q5 


288 


88 


88 


900 


4,000 






23 


102 


22 


22 


QQ 


293 


33 


33 


1,000 


4,444 


44 


44 


24 


106 


m 


66 


67 


297 


77 


77 


2,000 


8,888 


88 


88 


25 


111 


11 


11 


68 


302 


22 


22 


3,000 


13,333 


33 


33 


26 


115 


55 


56 


69 


306 


66 


66 


4,000 


17,777 


77 


77 


27 


120 






70 


311 


11 


11 


5,000 


22,222 


22 


22 


28 


124 


44 


44 


71 


315 


55 


5G 


6,000 


26,666 


m 


66 


29 


128 


88 


88 


72 


320 


... 


... 


7,000 


31,111 


11 


11 


30 


133 


33 


33 


73 


324 


4i 


44 


8,000 


35,555 


55 


56 


31 


137 


77 


77 


74 


328 


88 


88 


9,000 


40,000 




... 


32 


142 


22 


22 


75 


333 


33 


33 


10,000 


44,444 


44 


44 


33 


146 


66 


6Q 


76 


337 


77 


77 


20,C00 


88,888 


88 


88 


34 


151 


11 


11 


77 


342 


22 


22 


30,000 


133,333 


33 


33 


35 


155 


55 


56 


78 


346 


QQ 


66 


40,000 


177,777 


77 


77 


36 


160 




... 


79 


351 


11 


11 


50,000 


222,222 


22 


22 


37 


164 


44 


44 


80 


355 


55 


56 


60,000 


266,666 


66 


66 


38 


168 


88 


88* 


81 


360 


... 




70,000 


311,111 


11 


11 


39 


173 


33 


32 


82 


364 


44 


44 


80,000 


355,555 


55 


56 


40 


177 


77 


77 


83 


368 


88 


88 


90,000 


400,000 


00 


00 


41 


182 


22 


22 


84 


373 


33 


33 


100,000 


444,444 


44 


44 


42 


186 


66 


65 


85 


377 


77 


77 


11,000,000 


4,444,444 


44 


44 


43 


191 


1^ 


11 


86 


382 


22 22 











2 G 2 



352 



SIX years' residence 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER — CHARLESTON, 1818. 



Thermo, at 2 p.m. in Shade. In bun. 



1818. 






1818. 




Jan. 12, 


Cold, rain 


42 


Feb. 25, Clear 


54 


13, 


. . clear 


36 90 


26, .. 


57 


14, 


. . 


35 104 


27, Cloudy 


58 


13, 


Fine 


46 


28, Clear 


68 


16, 


, . 


50 121 


Average 53. 




17, 


. , 


51 






18, 


Rain 


53 


March I, Fine, warm 


72 


19, 


Clear 


60 


2, .. 


70 


20, 


Rain 


62 


3, .. 


66 


21, 


Fine 


56 


4, . . cold 


50 


22, 


. . 


60 


5, . . . . 


51 


23, 


. 


61 


6, .. 


52 


24, 


. , 


57 


7. . . 


54 


25, 


, , 


65 


8, .. 


56 


26, 


. . 


68 133 


'9, . . 


59 


27, 


, , 


70 


10, .. 


64 


28, 


. 


65 


11, .. 


64 


29, 


Rain 


64 


12, .. 


65 


30, 


. . and cold 45 | 


13, .. 


69 


31, 


Clear . . 


3Q 


14, . .feels cool 71 


Average 54. 




15, . , . warm 72 








16, . . blowy 


58 


Feb. 1, 


Clear, cold 


42 


17, Rain, cold 


46 


2, 


Cloudy 


51 


18, .. 


42 


3, 


Rain 


54 


19, Fine 


45 


4, 


Clear, cold 


49 


20, Rain 


50 


5, 


. , 


47 


21, Fine 


60 


6, 


, , 


47 


22, .. 


57 


7, 


, , 


51 


23, .. 


57 


8, 


, , 


52 


24, . . cold 


58 


9, 


, . 


42 


25, .. 


67 


10, 


. . verycold36 


26, .. 


69 


11, 


Rain 


40 


27, . . warm 


73 


12, 


Cloudy 


44 


28, . . cold 


62 


13, 


, . 


50 


29, .. 


64 


14, 




60 


30, . . blowy 


71 


15, 


Fine 


58 


31, .. 


68 


16, 




48 


Average 60^ 




17, 


. 


54 






18, 


Rain 


64 


April 1, Fine 


69 


19, 


Cloudy 


48 


2, Cloudy 


71 


20, 


Clear 


6] 


3, Rain 


70 


21, 


. , 


59 


4, Cloudy 


62 


22, 


. . warm 


70 


5, Fine 


66 


23, 


Cloudy 


64 


6, . . 


68 


24, 


Rain 


65 


7, .. 


71 



Thermo, at 2 p.m. Shade. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 



353 



1818. 




I p. M. 


1818. 


2 p. M. 


April 8, 


Rain 


71 


20, 


Fair, cool 52 


9, 


, . 


72 


:2i, 


60 


10, 


. . cool 


62 


22, 


64 


11, 


, , 


66 


23, 


65 


12, 


, , 


67 


24, 


64 


13, 


. . 


69 


25, 


63 


U, 


, 


68 


26, 


Rain 68 


15, 


, , 


75 


27, 


Fair 73 


16, 


. , 


77 


28, 


76 


17, 


Fair, blowy 


76 


29, 


. . cool 68 


18, 


. . 


68 


SO, 


. . warm 79 


19, 


. . cool 


56 


Average 67|. 


OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEA" 


DHEPv— CHA] 


ILESTON, 1820. 


1820. 


§ 


» p. M. 


1820. 


2 p. M. 


March 23, 


Clear 


55 


April 24, 


Clear 86 


24, 




60 


25, 


78 


25, 




63 


26, 


. . thdr.hail86 


26, 




67 


27, 


. . warm 85 


27, 




70 


28, 


80 


28, 




75 


29, 


82 


29, 




72 


30, 


82 


30, 


Cloudy 


70 


Average 72.^. 


31, 


Clear 


72 






April 1, 


Clear 


70 


May 1, 


Cloudy, cool 67 


2, 


..hail showr.70 


2, 


Clear 72 


3, 


. . cold 


49 


3, 


. . warm 83 


4, 


. . verycold42 


,4, 


.... 82 


5, 


. . pleasan 


t62 


5, 


.... 80 


6, 


. . \i'arm 


7-1 


6, 


Rain 72 


7, 




73 


7, 


Clear 76 


8, 


Rain 


63 


8, 


. . warm 78 


9, 


Clear 


58 


9, 


Sultry, thdr. 79 


10, 


. 


61 


10, 


Rain 82 


11, 




69 


11, 


81 


12, 




74 


12, 


Clear, hot 81 


13, 


. .thidr.stm 


.76 


13, 


. . cool ! 86 


M, 


Clear 


72 


14, 


. . hot 82 


15, 


/. 


80 


15, 


.... 76 


16, 




80 


16, 


. . cool 74 


17, 


Rain 


66 


17, 


. . warm 78 


18, 


Cloudy 


68 


18, 


Cloudy 77 


19, 


Clear, warm 73 


19, 


Rain 73 


20, 


. . 


76 


20, 


Clear, warm 77 


21, 




79 


21, 


Cloudy, 82 


22, 




82 


22, 


Clear 80 


23, 




83 


23, 


. . sultry 81 



2 gS 



54. SIX 


YEARS 


RESIDENCE 




1820. 


2 P. M. 


1823. 


2 P. M. 


May 24, Clear, hot 87 


Nov. 29, Clear 


53 


25, . . thdr.rain 84 


30, .. 


57 


26, . . very hot 89 


Dec. 1, Clear, warm 70 


27, . . cold ! 


69 


2, .. 


68 


28, . . cool 


74 


3, Rain 


66 


29, .. 


79 


4, Cloudy,warm74 


30, Cloudy,warm78 


1825. 




31, Rain 


77 


Dec. 20, Clear, vy.cld.20!* 


June 1, Cloudy 


73 


1826. 




2, . . rain 


72 


Jan. 8, Clear 


61 


3, .. .. 


73 


9, .. 


62 


4, Clear, hot 


85 


Feb. 26, . . 


74 


5, .. .. 


85 


27, .. 


73 


6, .. sultry, thr. 87 


28, .. 


74 


7, Clear, warm 80 


March 1, Clear 


70 


8, Cloudy 


81 


2, .. 


78 


9, . . rain 


83 


3, .. 


79 


10, Clear 


82 


4, .. 


79 


11, . . hot 


82 


5, . . 


78 


12, 


84 


6, .. 


81 


13. .. 


85 


7, .. 


78 


14, . . thunder 86 


8, . . 


74 


15, Clear 


86 


9, . . 


76 


1823. 




24, Cloudy 


73 


Nov. 4, Clear, warm 72 


25, . . rain 


74 


5, . . 


74 


26, Clear 


68 


6, .. 


75 


27, .. 


67 


7, . . cool 


63 


28, . . 


70 


8, .. 


67 


29, .. 


72 


9, .. 


68 


30, .. 


74 


10, .. 


74 


31, . . 


73 


11, Rain, sultry, 73 | 


May 21, Clear 


80 


12, Clear, cool 


56 


22, .. 


81 


13, .. .. 


62 


23, .. 


80 


14, . . . . 


63 


24, .. 


82 


15, Cloudy, 


60 


25, .. 


81 


16, .. 


60 


26, .. 


82 


17, Clear 


57 


27, Cloudy 


79 


18 . . cool 


50 


June 11, Clear 


89 


19, Clear 


58 


12, . . 


90 


20, .. 


63 


13, .. 


93 


21, . . warm 


74 


14, .. 


83 


23, CIoudy,sltry.73 | 


15, Cloudy 


81 


23, Clear 


66 


16, .. 


82 


24, Cloudy 


67 


17, Rain 


83 


25, Rain 


70 


18, Clear 


84 


26, Clear 


65 


19, .. 


83 


27,' .. 


60 






28, 7 A.M. 38 


54 


. * Lowest for 50 years 


past. 



IN THE UNITED STATES. 



355 



1826. 


2 p. M. 


1826 




2 p.m. 


June 20, 


Clear 


86 


16, 


Clear 


85 


21, 




85 


17, 


. . 


86 


22, 




82 


Sept. 10, 


Clear 


85 


23, 


, 


84 


11, 


, . 


86 


July 1, 


Clear 


89 


12, 


Rain 


89 


2, 




89 


13, 


Clear 


90 


3, 


. . hot 


91 


14, 




91 


4, 


. . 


94 


15, 


. . 


91 


5, 




92 


16, 


. . 


80 


6, 




88 


28, 




86 


7, 


Cloudy 


87 


29, 


. . 6 A. M 


60 


, 8, 


Rain 


88 


Oct. 11, 


Clear 


68 


9, 


Clear 


82 


12, 


. . 


64 


10, 




83 


13, 




64 


11, 




85 


28, 


, . 


80 


12, 




84 


29, 


. . 


81 


13, 




84 


Nov. 17, 


Rain 


73 


14, 


Cloudy 


86 


18, 


Clear 


35! 


15, 




89 


19, 


Clear 6am33 37 


OBSERVATIONS 


ON THE 


WEATHER — NEW YORK. 




1822. 


At 2 p. M. 


1823. 


2 p. M. 


Sept. 13, 


Clear, hot 


90 


Feb. 8, 


Clear, 3 a. 


:'l'> 


M, 




85 




four belo 


15, 




84 


„ 


..8a. m. 


6 


16, 




82 


9, 


. . 8 _ 


8 


17, 


. . cool 


66 


April 18, 


Clear 


71 


18, 


. 


67 


19, 




70 


19, 


' , 


71 


21, 


Thunder 


72 


26, 


Cloudy,sultry77 


23, 


Sultry 


70 


28, 


• . 


78 


24, 


Cool 


54 


Oct. 10, 


. 


73 


27, 


Warm 


83 


11, 


. . 


74 


June 15, 


Clear 


76 


12, 


Clear, cool 


65 


16, 




73 


13, 




69 


17, 


. . hot 


85 


14, 




58 


18, 


. . 


88 


18, 


. . warm 


74 


21, 

22, 




76 
70 


OBSERVATIONS IN VERS 


lONT— LAT. 


44 NORTH. 




1823. 


2 


p. M. 


1823. 




2 p.m 


Sept. 6, 


Clear 


73 


Sept. 22, 


ClearlO p.m 


. 27, 


7, 


Rain 


65 


23, 


. . 


50' 


19, 


Clear 


77 


24, 


. , 


56 


21, 


Cloudy 


46 


25, 


1 • 


56 




Clear, 11 p.m.31 


26, 


. . 


67 


22, 


. . 


50 


27, 




62 



356 SIX 


YEARS 


RESIDENCE 




OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER AT PHILADELPHIA. 


1824. At 2 P.M. 


1824. 




2p.m 


June 5, Clear, warm 


82 


Oct. 


30, 


Clear 


50 


6, . . 


83 


1825 


. 






— In sun, 138. 


April 


13, 


Clear, (6 a.m. 


7, Clear, hot 


88 






37) 


52 


8, . . 


89 




14, 


. , 


54 


— Schuylkill wa 


L- 




16, 


. . warm 


74 


ter from the 




17, 


. . 


74 


pipe 74 






21, 


..(6 a. 


M. 


11, Clear, cool 


68 






ice) 




12, . . 


69 




23, 




67 


1.3, . . 


67 


May 7, 


Clear 


73 


Julyl, Clear, hot 


87 




8, 


. . 


67 


2, Cloudy, thdr. 85 




9, 


. . (6 a.w 


. 


3, Clear 


84 






48) 




14, .. 


76 




14, 


. . 


70 


— Water 76 






15, 


. , 


66 


26, Clear 


90 




16, 


. . 


67 


30, .. 


81 




20, 


. . 


75 


Aug. 18, Clear, hot 


86 




23, 


. . 


75 


19, .. 


87 




24, 


. . 


83 


27, . . thunder 76 


June 7, 


. . hot 


81 


— . . (rain wa- 




8, 


.... 


83 


ter) 73. 






9, 


.... 


85 


28, Clear 


75 




11, 


.... 


88 


29, .. 


71 




12, 


.... 


88 


30, Rain 


70 







5 a.m. 81 




31, . . 


64 




21, 


Clear, hot 


93 


Sept. 1, Clear 

2, . . 


7u 
74 




28, 
89, 


:: :: 


76 
75 


3, Cloudy 


71 


July 




Average at 2 


15, Clear 


80 






PM. 


9L 


16, Windy 


83 






Only one r 


ay 


19, . . 


70 






below 80, 


re- 


25, Clear, cool 


65 






peatedly 98. 


27, . . . . 


57 






3 times 102. 


Oct. 7, Clear 


48 


Aug. 


14, 


Clear 


88 


8, . . 


65 


Sept. 


11, 


Clear, (6 a 


.M. 


9, .. 


70 






47) 


67 


10, .. 


73 




12, 


. . (do. 5 


3)66 


30, . . 6A.M.33 











IN THE UNITED STATES, 357 

TABLE OF THE MEAN ANNUAL HEAT AT THE FOLLOWING PLACES : 



Chandernagor in the East Indies 

Pondicherry, East Indies 

Kingston, Jamaica 

St Domingo, City 

Havannah, Cuba 

Algiers, Barbary 

Funchal 

St Augustine, Florida 

New Orleans, Louisiana 

Pensacola, Florida 

Natchez, Mississippi . 

Savannah, Georgia 

Toulon, France 

Naples, Italy 

Charleston, South Carolina 

Mexico, 7,500 feet above sea level 

Rome, Italy 

Montpelier, France 

Madrid, 2,300 feet above sea level 

Bordeaux, France, 

Washington, America 

Pekin, China 

Cincinnati, Ohio, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

Amsterdam, Holland 

New York 

Paris, France 

London 

Vienna, Austria 

Cambridge, New England 

Geneva, Switzerland . 

Glasgow, Scotland 

Perth, Ditto 

Stockholm, Sweden 

Quebec, Canada 

Abo, Finland, 

Petersburg, Russia 



LATITUDE. 1 




Deg. 


Min. 


Thermo. 


11 


20 


92. 


11 


56 


85. 


18 


04 


81. 


18 


20 


81. 


23 


11 


78.10 


36 


48 


70. 


32 


37 


68.72 


29 


45 


66.13 


30 


... 


65.80 


30 


30 


65.50 


31 


33 


63.90 


31 


57 


63.75 


43 


03 


63.05 


40 


50 


63.04 


32 


42 


63. 


19 


25 


62.24 


41 


53 


60. 2o 


43 


36 


59.35 


40 


25 


59. 


44 


50 


56.48 


38 


52 


55.05 


39 


54 


54.86 


39 


06 


54,25 


39 


57 


53.63 


52 


22 


53.40 


40 


40 


52.80 


48 


50 


51.47 


51 


30 


50.60 


48 


12 


50.56 


42 


25 


50.36 


46 


12 


50.21 


55 


56 


48.70 


56 


25 


47.30 


59 


20 


44.37 


46 


55 


41.90 


60 


27 


41.50 


59 


56 


39.50 



358 



SIX years' residence. &c. 



RETURN OF DEATHS WITHIN THE CITY OF CHARLESTON, (S. C.) FROM 
THE FIRST OF JAN. 1825 TO THE FIRST OF JAN. 1826. 



Diseases. 

Accident 14 

Angina Pectoris 1 

Apoplexy 9 

Asthma 7 

Cancer 5 

Catarrh '. 14 

Child-Bed 9 

Cholic 4 

Cholera Morbus 3 

Consumption 152 

Convulsions 48 

Cramp 4 

Croup 16 

Debility 34 

Diarrhoea 79 

Dropsy 87 

Dronmed 5 

Dysentery 6 

Dyspepsia 3 

Epilepsy 1 

Fever 6 

Fever, Bilious 21 

Fever, Catai-rhal 6 

Fever, Country 28 

Fever, Intermittent 6 

Fever, Nervous 15 

Fever, Worm 14 

Gout 1 

Hooping Cough 5 

Hemiptoe 1 



Diseases. 

Hemorrhage 6 

Haemorrhoids 1 

Inflammation of Brain 5 

Inflammation of Bowels ... 3 

Insanity 7 

Intemperance 17 

Jaundice 3 

Liver Complaint 13 

Locked Jaw 6 

Menorrhagia 1 

Old Age 59 

Palsy 6 

Peripneumony 1 

Pleurisy 5 

Rheumatism 1 

Scrofula 3 

Small Pox 49 

Sore Throat 3 

Spasm 11 

Strangulated Hernia 3 

Sudden Death 4 

Suffocation 2 

Suicide 2 

Sun Struck 2 

Swine Pox 1 

Teething 13 

Thrush 5 

Varioloid 3 

Violence 1 



Total. 



.840 



Black Males 253 

Black Females 234 

l87 



White Males 228 

White Females .125 

353 
Of the White Persons,* there were — 

Natives of this State 

Of different parts of the United States 

Foreigners 



188 
74 
91 



* The above may give an idea of the ordinary diseases prevalent in Charles- 
ton : ohserviug-, however, that this was not a " yellow fever year.' The large 
proportion of deaths under the article consumption, arises chiefly, if not alto- 
getlier, from this circumstance, that in the fall of the year, great numbers of 
consumptive patients leave the north to enjoy tlie mild weather which pre- 
vails in Charleston during the winter. Consumption is not a native of Caro- 
lina. 



THE END. 



SUBSCRIBERS' NAMES. 



Sir James E. Anderson, Kt. Physician, Royal Yacht, 
London, 2 copies. 

Rev. Mr Archibald Bennie, Stirling. 

David Blackburn, Esq. West Bath-street. 

Dr M. S. Buchanan, Buchanan-street, 2 copies. 

Mr Hug-h Brown, Jun. Virginia Place. 

Mr Peter Bryson, Saltmarket-street. 

Ml* James Brock, Merchant, Wilson-street. 

Rev. IMr John Byers. 

Robert Brown, Esq. Merchant, 18, South Frederick-street. 

Mr Alexander Baird, Timber Merchant, Port Dundas. 

James Cleland, Esq. LL.D. 

Mr John Craig, Cardross. 

Mr D. Campbell, Librarian, Buchanan-street. 

Mr George Crawford, Writer, Virginia-street. 

Dr Samuel Clarke, High-street. 

Mr Allan Cuthbertson, Accountant, George-street. 

Mr John Campbell, Glassford-street. 

Mr John Calder, Merchant, Ingram-street. 

Mr John Clark, jun. Cotton Spinner, Mile End. 

Mr Andrew Crombie, Solicitor, Edinburgh. 

Mr John Donal'd, Hutcheson-street. 
Mr Thomas Downie, Glasgow Bank. 
Mr Samuel Dow, Stockwell-street. 
Mr William Doudas. 



subscribers' names. 

William Leckie Ewing, Esq. Merchant, West Bath-street* 
James Ellis, Esq. Merchant, 18, South Frederick-street. 

Kirkraan Finlay, Esq. of Castle Toward. 
William Frew, Esq. Merchant, Monteith Row. 
John Freeland, Esq. Writer, Miller-street. 
Mr James Finlay, Merchant, Stirlino^ Square. 

Mr William Galbraith, Dumbarton Mills, 10 copies. 

William Galbraith, Esq. of Black-house, Stirling. 

H. A. Galbraith, Esq. Superintendent Royal Lunatic Asylum, 

Glasgow, 4 copies. 
Mr William L. Graham. 
James Galbraith, Esq. Merchant. 
James Graham, Esq. of Leitchtoun, Edinburgh. 
Mr Peter S. Gordon, Writer, 85, Trongate. 
Mr John Galbraith, Dumbarton. 
Alexander Glasgow, Esq. Merchant, Blythswood Hill. 
INIr John Gray. 

Dr David Gibson, Wilson-street, 2 copies. 
Mr A. M. Gordon, Edinburgh. 
Mr William Galbraith, High-street. 

Mr John Hood, Merchant, Brunswick-street. 

Robert Hood, Esq. Candleriggs. 

Mr Robert Hood, High-street. 

Mr Thomas Hutcheson, Argyle-street. 

Miss Houstoun, Matron Royal Lunatic Asylum, 2 copies. 

Mr Robert Jamieson, Writer, Argyle-street. 

Mr William Jamieson, Merchant, Union-street, 2 copies. 



SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 

Mr Alexander Kirkwood, Mitchell-street. 

Mr Ai'chibald G. Kidston, Merchant, Queen-street. 

Mr Robert Knox, Merchant, Virginia Place. 

Robert Kaye, Esq. Gallowgate. 

Mr George Kirkland, Gallowgate. 

Mr R. M. Leckie, Dublin, .3 copies. 

Lieutenant Liddle, Hamilton. 

Mr Robert Liddle, Writer, Edinburgh. 

Henry Monteith, Esq. of Carstairs. 

Mr James Mutrie, Merchant, Argyle-street. 

Rev. Mr William Mair. 

William M'Gavin, Esq. Banker, Queen-street. 

Mr Ai-chibald M*Lean, Trongate. 

Mr William M'Kechnie, Stirling-street. 

Mr Robert M*Aulay, Princes-street. 

Archibald M'Lellan, jun. Esq. Miller-street. 

Mr Walter M'Feat, Librarian, Glassford-street. 

Thomas M'Kenzie, Esq. Banker, Hamilton. 

Mr Archibald M'Fadyen, Writer, Hamilton. 

Mr Peter Neilson, Saltraarket-street. 

Mr William T. Nimmo, Royal Bank. 

Mr William Neilson, Writer, Hutcheson-street. 

Patrick Neilson, Esq. of Camoquill, Hutcheson-street. 

Mr William Neilson, Merchant, Stirling Square. 

M. M. Pattison, Esq. Buchanan-street. 

John Pattison, Esq. Queen-street. 

David PJrrie, Esq. Merchant, Blythswood Square. 



SUBSCRIBERS NAMES. 

Mr Adam Reld, Montrose-street. 
Mr Robert Rodger, Buchanan-street. 
Mr David Robertson, Trongate, 6 copies. 

Mr John Stevvai't, Merchant, 97, Brunswick-street. 

James Stevenson, Esq. Hutch eson-street. 

George Salmond, Esq. Stockwell-street. 

Mr William Snell, jun. Merchant, IngTam-street. 

Mr Alexander Stewart, Surgeon, Candleriggs-street. 

Mr John Shirra, High-street. 

Mr John Shai-p, Hamilton. 

Mr William Todd, Miller Street. 

Mr James Todd, Trongate. 

Mr John Tosh, Virginia-street. 

Mr David Tweedie, Gallowgate. 

Mr John Tennent, St Rollox, 2 copies. 

Mr James Thomson, Writer, George Square. 

Mr John Ure, 16, Montrose-street. 

Mr John Wilkie, Writer, Argyle-street. 

Mr Andrew Waters, Hutcheson-street. 

Mr William Willis, Ingrara-street. 

Mr John Wilson, Merchant, Argyle-street. 

James Wingate, Esq. Insurance Broker, Royal Exchange. 



Mr Andrew Young, Merchant, Brunswick~street. 



92 




















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